Can soiled paper be recycled?

Question

Can you place soiled paper in with your paper recyclables? Such as wax paper that was used to wrap a sandwich or piece of pizza and now has grease on it, or a used cardboard coffee cup... I've heard that even having one piece of trash thrown in with recyclables voids the entire lot and it becomes treated as trash entirely... Is this also true?

Answer 1

Try composting soiled waxed paper, paper towels, or coffee cups. Tear them up so they break down quicker, and mix them with lots of organic matter. You can compost office paper as well but I'd avoid glossy magazines because of the toxic inks.

Answer 2

Wax papers and soiled papers do not recycle well.  The best papers for recycling are white office paper, newsprint and cardboard.  Better to separate them.  

I generally trash the waxed papers.  I really don't know how the recycling facilities handle waxed and greasy paper but I am sure it does not get recycled into new printer paper.

Answer 3

I think so they wash it with bleach b4 reusing it so it would be pretty clean you could even make napkin of it ;(

Answer 4

No, you can't put soiled paper into the paper recyclables. But you can put it into the organics (mostly food waste) recyclables. Only a few areas have the organics service. I imagine that eventually all the areas will have this service.

Answer 5

sure, throw it out the window and let it get rained on a few times.    plastic is the same.   i like to burn as much plastic as poss.  smells good too

Answer 6

According to our waste management company, Veolia, putting items in the recyclables that do not belong can cause a whole load of recycling materials to be rejected at the plant.  So, what I would recommend, is contacting your local waste management office to see what they accept.  The people there are generally easy to reach; I don't think they get a lot of calls.  Make a list of questions and fire away.  If you wanted to be really helpful, you could then distribute what you learned to your community (via neighborhood flyer, or article in your church's newsletter, etc.). I have found that most people don't know what can be recycled in their areas, and that the waste management company doesn't do a great job of advertising.  If you did this, it would be a great service!