MWA Blog: Are You Recycling All the Paper Products You Can?

Junk Mail, Food Boxes, Cardboard, Glossy Magazines & More

Did you know 10 percent of materials that end up in the landfill from your home are recyclable paper products? We all know newspapers are recyclable, but did you know you can also recycle many other paper products in your green Curb It! cart, including:

• Magazines 
• Most mail, including envelopes with plastic windows
• Newspapers along with the advertisements and inserts
• Boxes of nearly any kind, including shoes boxes, food boxes from cereal, pop and mac-n-cheese, as well as merchandise boxes. Just be sure the Styrofoam or plastic packaging from inside the boxes is removed and put in the trash.
• Paper bags and sacks
• Cardboard

Watch the new Metro Waste commercial to see what you can recycle.

Shredded paper can also be recycled, but requires a little more attention. It must be in a paper sack, pop can box, or cardboard box – never a plastic bag. If shredded paper isn’t enclosed in something, or is in a plastic bag, it ends up in the landfill. The sorting machines can’t capture the small shredded pieces and plastic bags – empty or full – are immediately pulled off of the recycling belt by hand to prevent equipment damage. Also, be sure to fold down the paper sack or close the box of shredded paper. You can even tape or staple it shut. Now it’s ready to be tossed in your recycling cart.

For more on what is accepted and not accepted in your Curb It! recycling cart, visit us at www.MWAtoday.com/curbit or call 515.224.0021.