Environmental concerns have most people recycling all of their paper. And everyone knows the best way to dispose of sensitive, personal and financial papers is to shred them. But recycling shredded paper isn’t always easy and those two tasks don’t always mesh.
Getting paper shreds from the paper shredder to the recycling center cleanly, neatly and responsibly takes some effort. The first step is to contact your local recycling pick-up company and ask if they pick up shredded paper and how it should be packaged.
Can Shredded Paper Be Recycled
Whether you can recycle shredded paper depends on where you live and how your waste paper is recycled. Some community recycling programs will pick up shredded paper if it is placed securely in a paper bag. Other towns and garbage/recycling companies refuse to pick up paper shreds.
Despite common public thought, shredded paper isn’t as easy to recycle or as valuable as whole paper. According to Eco-Cycle.org shredded paper is less valuable because:
- Individual paper fibers are cut to a short length that reducing the recycling potential. Longer fibers can be used to make higher grade paper and can be recycled more times.
- Paper mills that buy recycled paper sort it by quality, and it is harder to determine the quality of paper shreds . It often is put in with the lowest quality paper.
- Many recycling facilities use filters that take out non-fiber contaminants such as bits of plastic, and the small shreds of paper sometimes get picked up by the filters because of their small size, and are tossed out.
For this reason and others, some community recycling programs do not accept shredded paper.
Other towns and waste pick-up companies, however, will gladly accept shredded paper and add it to their lower-quality paper supply.
Companies that shred large amounts of paper for businesses most often recycle their shredded paper, sometimes selling it to recycling centers. Shred Nations recycles 10,000 tons of shredded paper a month, according to the company.
Easy Shredded Paper Recycling Without a Mess
Emptying a paper shredder bin can create a mess within the house and if not contained properly when put out for recycling pick-up, can cause a mess in an entire neighborhood.
Minimize paper shredding and its mess by taking these steps:
- Don’t shred non-sensitive papers like advertisements. Limit shredding to only documents and mail that contains personal information.
- Empty the shredder bin often. If shredded paper gets backed up into the shredding mechanism, emptying the bin can be messy.
- When emptying the shredder bin, pull out the bin and place it entirely into a brown paper grocery bag. Turn it over and shake gently so that all the paper shreds stay inside the bag.
- Fold down the top of the paper bag, tape shut, and flatten it.
- Place the bag in your paper recycling bin and place it under flattened newspapers, phone books or other waste paper to weigh it down.
How to Cut Down on Paper Shredding
Even a small household can build up a surprisingly large stack of paper waste, with newspapers, magazines, mail and school papers coming into a house every day. Cutting down on paper shredding means first reducing how much paper is brought into the house.
- Reduce junk mail by contacting direct mail marketers and asking to be removed from mailing lists. Companies like GreenDimes.com will remove clients from thousands of direct marketers for an annual fee.
- Reuse computer paper by writing on the blank side and using it for scratch paper.
- Only shred papers that have sensitive or confidential information.
- “Go paperless” whenever you can. Store files in a computer instead of making print-outs.
With some research and effort, it's possible to protect confidential information and be environmentally responsible by shredding paper and recycling it.
Join the Conversation