Can you recycle shredded paper?
Paper is one of the most recycled types of material in the whole world. You may be wondering: if I can recycle paper curbside, can I also recycle shredded paper?
The answer is … it depends!
Though shredded paper is technically recyclable, many cities don’t accept it curbside. In other communities, like Flagstaff, shredded paper is accepted in their recycling bins, but only if it’s in a sealed paper bag marked “shredded paper.”
Check out our local household Recycling Guides for your community’s shredded paper guidelines.
Recycling paper vs. recycling shredded paper
Paper, junk mail, magazines, and catalogs are all accepted for recycling. And here in the United States, we recycle a lot of it — 46 million tons of paper and paperboard in 2018. If you put all that paper on a scale, it would weigh about the same as 204,444 Statues of Liberty!
About 80% of U.S. paper mills incorporate recycled paper fiber in their production process, making items like packaging, office paper, and paper towels. So it might seem odd that shredded paper is not recyclable in all communities. After all, it’s just paper.
But shredded paper is more difficult to recycle. Here’s why:
Size and shape
Once those small bits of paper mix with the other recyclables in the truck, they're nearly impossible to collect. Instead, shredded paper clings to other items, floats around the recycling facility like confetti, or sticks in the equipment's gears. In short, shredded paper can be a headache for a materials recovery facility (MRF).
Recyclability
Even without the collection challenges, shredded paper is harder to recycle. A full sheet of office paper has long and strong fibers, and can be recycled 5 to 7 times to make new, highly reusable, and sellable items – more paper and more packaging.
Shredding paper cuts those fibers and greatly reduces its recycling lifespan. So unlike aluminum, steel, and glass, all of which can be endlessly recycled, paper has its limits and shredded paper needs to be handled differently. As a result, not every city is able to recycle it.
What to shred
Identity theft is a real concern. You can keep your data safe and maximize your recycling by shredding only sheets of paper containing sensitive, personal information. Take a moment to identify the pages that contain personal information rather than shredding the entire document. Often, personal information is only contained on a single page.
Here are some examples of the types of documents and information that are worthy of a shred:
Anything with Social Security numbers
Anything with credit card numbers
Any pages with birth dates
Any pages with driver’s license numbers
Bank /investment account statements and transactions
Medical records
Tax forms
Education records, including items with student identification numbers
Pay stubs, including items with employee identification numbers
Pre-approved credit card applications
Ways to reuse shredded paper
Reuse is always the best use, and shredded paper is surprisingly useful.
1. Make flowers bloom
Use shredded paper to make gift-worthy seed bombs.
2. Spark a flame
Or make firestarters with the help of candle wax, dryer lint, and an egg carton.
3. Compost your shreds
Add nourishment to your soil. Shredded paper can be used like leaves to provide carbon to your compost bin (especially useful in the winter when leaves are scarce.) Shredded documents are considered safe for composting, as most inks are soy-based these days. Avoid adding colored paper and glossy paper to your compost bin to be safe.
4. Use it as packing material
Protect your breakable items, like holiday ornaments, by insulating them with shredded paper.
5. Our favorite reuse idea: Make beautiful bird’s nests
Get in touch with your crafty side and create a bird’s nest with your shredded paper.
Learn about your local shredding rules
Learn your local rules for handling shredded paper with our easy-to-use guides.
Chicago I Flagstaff I Highland Park, IL I Houston I Lafayette I Los Angeles I Philadelphia I Santa Monica I Sedona I West Hollywood
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Sources: Waste 360 EPAAmerican Forest & Paper AssociationFederal Trade CommissionEPANew York Times
