Recycle office paper?

Question

I just want to make sure what "office paper" is...I was putting my old paper in my local recycling paper dumpster...On the front it says what can and can't go into the dumpster. On the can't list it said office paper. Is office paper the paper that printers and copiers use? I just wanted to make sure because I never heard office paper wasn't recyclable.

Answer 1

I also believe office paper is copier paper, which I thought all paper recycling companies accepted. I definitely would call them to verify and then suggest they more explicitly explain what they will and won't accept on the dumpster sign. If people are confused about what they can and can't recycle, unfortunately many of them don't take the time (like you have--thanks for that!) to make sure they are recycling the proper items. Thanks again for recycling!

Answer 2

im really not sure but in my office at work we have two garbage bins, one for garbage and one to Recycle White Paper Only. so im guessing that would be the office paper. or they could mean confidential papers. because people could go garbage picking for important papers like that.

Answer 3

The official definition of office paper is any paper that crosses your desk, white or otherwise.

It is assumed that about 70-80% of your office paper is white, and less than 5% is groundwood papers (newspapers, magazines, and the like).  

Don't worry if you slightly exceed the colored paper percentage - you will average out when the entire city is included.

If your office generates a lot of computer printouts, your waste stream will be heavily sorted - computer printout paper trades at a much higher price than regular office waste paper.

Answer 4

Yes, office paper is printer and copier paper. I never heard of any recyclers that did not accept that kind of paper. You better verify that. Call them or whatever.

Answer 5

They may be referring to confidential documents, that's all I can think of.  If the paper has client information on it, then don't put it into the recycle "as is."  If your company has confidentiality procedures, follow those as a guideline.

I haven't heard that regular office paper, as such, is not recyclable.

EDIT: In regards to your questions about various cans: vegetable/soup cans and dog food cans are made of the same stuff.  Not sure why they'd specify dog or pet food and not people, but oh well.  Go nuts.  :P

Mousse cans and air freshener cans are aerosol cans.  They're pressurized even when the product chamber is empty.  That's essentially how you can tell.  If it uses a propellant (like air fresheners do) then it doesn't go into recycling.