Mistake 1: Putting non-recyclable paper products into the recycling bin

Even though they are made of paper, a number of items are not suitable for recycling: dirty paper plates, cigarette butts, tissue and toilet paper, paper towel, sticky notes, carbon paper, foil-lined, wax-coated and laminated papers, cement and dog food bags.

These items cannot be recycled owing to the contamination or non-recyclability of certain elements or ‘stickies’ like waxes, foils, laminates and glues.

How to correct this:

• Educate your employees around what is recyclable and what is not.
• Use printable material and posters available on www.recyclepaper.co.za for office communal areas.

RECYCLABLE

• Magazines and brochures, including glossy varieties
• Newspapers
• Office and shredded paper, envelopes
• Cardboard boxes of any kind – dry food, cosmetic and medicine boxes; roll cores, packing cartons (flattened)
• Old telephone directories and books
• Envelopes
• Paper giftwrap
• Milk, beverage and food cartons (such as Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc liquid packaging)

NOT RECYCLABLE

• Wet or dirty paper and cardboard
• Used paper plates, disposable nappies, tissues and toilet paper
• Wax-coated, foil-lined or laminated boxes
• Cement and dog food bags
• Foil gift wrapping, carbon and laminated paper

Mistake 2: Food contamination

Wet waste ends up in the paper recycling bin – this includes used food waste, cigarette butts and soiled take-away containers. This contaminates the paper and reduces its value. Paper also starts to degrade once wet.

How to correct this:

• Set-up a two-bin system – receptacles for paper recycling and bins for food, liquid and non-recyclable waste with clear and simple messaging and graphics.
• Contact one of RecyclePaperZA’s members about paper recycling boxes: Mpact Recycling, Sappi ReFibre and Neopak Recycling.

Mistake 3: Making it difficult and time-consuming for employees to recycle

We are all human. Nobody likes to walk too far to throw something away.

How to correct this:

• Ensure that each desk is equipped with a tray or office recycler solely for paper and board.
• Install paper recycling receptacles in key locations:
  • At each desk
  • At each printing/copying station
  • In meeting and break rooms, and kitchen areas
  • In reception
• For every paper recycling bin, there should be a general waste bin alongside it.

A study showed that paper recycling rose from 28% with one bin per office to 94% when paper trays were located on desks[i].

Mistake 4: Not knowing what to do with your recyclables

Your office has collected all this paper that it doesn’t know what to do with, and after a while, it all ends up in the general rubbish.

How to correct these mistakes:

• Involve cleaning teams in your recycling initiatives. If waste streams are mixed, the recyclable paper will be contaminated and become worthless – this renders the recycling programme fruitless.
• Assign a sheltered area in which to keep recycled paper clean and dry.
• Where possible, keep office paper (mainly white bond paper) separate from newspapers and magazines and cardboard boxes.
• Partner with a recycling collection agent that meets your needs – this could be a service offered by a big company, a smaller business or an informal collector who can benefit from your paper collection.
• Visit www.mywaste.co.za for collection programmes or buy-back centres in your area.
• Support a local school or charity’s recycling fundraising initiatives (e.g. the Ronnie Recycler programme) as your recyclable paper could boost the tonnages they collect and increase the funds raised.

With a paper recovery rate of 64%, South Africa has been trending upwards towards a goal of 70% by 2020 for past few years.

[i] Brother, K.J., Krantz, P.J. & McClannahan, L.E. Office Paper Recycling: A function of Container Proximity. Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis 27, 153-160 (1994)

The post Four common office recycling mistakes first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

“Sadly only 5% of homes actively recycle their paper and board,” says Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (RecyclePaperZA) operations director Ursula Henneberry.

National Recycling Day on Friday, 14 September, is the perfect opportunity for South Africans to take a more active role in recycling, in the home and at the workplace.

The simplest way to green our future

Paper, one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable products, is made from farmed trees, just as your morning cereal was made from farmed wheat or corn. Plantation trees help to absorb carbon dioxide from and release life-giving oxygen into the atmosphere.

Trees, and thus paper and wood products, store this carbon as solid matter. By recycling paper, we can ensure that this carbon is kept out of the atmosphere for longer. Paper recycling is one of the simplest ways that we can green our future.

“If we do not recycle, paper will rot among other rubbish and emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide,” says Henneberry.

A tonne of recycled paper can save up to three cubic metres of landfill space and subsequently reduce transport costs for local municipalities.

By recycling paper, milk and juice cartons, glass, aluminium and plastic, we contribute to less pollution and litter, and create a healthier, greener and cleaner society.

Top tips for aspiring recyclers

1. Do your research and find out which companies collect paper in your area. Visit www.mywaste.co.za for these details.
2. Do not mix your paper with other recyclables.
3. Do not let your paper get wet or soiled by other rubbish. Keep it under cover or in a closed plastic container.
4. Get to know what is recyclable and what is not. The following paper types cannot be recycled:

– Foil gift wrapping and foiled lined boxes
– Wax coated or laminated boxes such as frozen food boxes
– Empty cement and dog food bags
– Disposable nappies
– Carbon paper
– Sticky notes

1. Remember that juice, milk and custard cartons ARE recyclable. Simply rinse, flatten and place with your paper recycling.
2. Newspapers are best recycled within three months.
3. If you don’t have a formal recycling collection service or drop-off depot in your neighbourhood, consider putting your recyclables in clear plastic bags so that the people who sort through the piles of refuse on collection day are afforded some dignity by not having to trawl through your week’s household waste.

Give paper a new lease on life

Paper can be recycled up to seven times. Some virgin or new wood fibre is required to make recycled paper possible in the first place and is always needed to keep the global fibre cycle going. But have you ever wondered where recyclable paper goes or what it becomes?

• Corrugated boxes and magazines = new corrugated boxes
• Newspapers, magazines = newspapers
• Office paper, newspapers, printer offcuts = tissue products, kitchen and industrial paper towelling
• Office paper, corrugated boxes, printer offcuts, cardboard trims = cereal boxes, soap cartons
• Newspaper, cardboard trims = moulded paper products such as egg boxes.
• Milk and juice cartons = board paper.

Next time you open your grocery cupboard or medicine cabinet, think about the role that paper plays in your life in its various and versatile forms.

The post Why we should be recycling our paper first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).