Last year Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents helped to recycle almost 43,187 tonnes of paper. Not bad, but we know our rubbish is made up of potentially 8% recyclable paper. That means we still sent over 30,000 tonnes to be buried in the ground. What a waste! The best option is to recycle it or even better reduce it!

Paper facts:

  • Trees for papermaking are grown and harvested. The bigger the demand for wood pulp is, the more space we need to grow managed plantations. This could means cutting down more old growth forests to make room for these plantations, also resulting in loss of wildlife habitats and ecosystems.
  • When paper and cardboard starts to decompose it gives off methane gas, a big contributing factor to climate change!
  • Producing recycled paper uses 28% less energy & water and gives off fewer polluting emissions.
  • For every tonne of paper we recycle, we save 17 trees - that means if we were able to recycle the amount we buried in the ground last year we could have saved more than 700,000 trees!
  • The paper industry is the UK largest recycler.

What happens to my paper?

  • Once collected, it will be taken to a sorting facility to be cleaned and separated into different paper types.
  • Contaminants have to be removed. This includes metals, oil and adhesives. If bales of paper are too contaminated they may be rejected.
  • The different types of paper are baled up and sent to paper mills (this region has one in Aylesford, Kent).
  • At the paper mill it is pulped up with water, filtered and screened to prepare it to be made into new paper.
  • Depending on the product, some virgin material may be added.
  • The paper is dried and flattened and rolled into sheets to make new products.

Buying recycled

To make sure there is a future for recycled paper products we need to keep buying them. There are loads of recycled paper products such as office paper, envelopes, stationary, newspapers, magazines, toilet paper, paper towels and tissues. Recycled paper products are good quality and the technology keeps improving. The more recycled paper products we buy the more manufacturers can invest in making their products better.

Paper mills will not continue to make recycled paper products if no one buys them. Keep the market alive - Buy recycled!

Frequently asked Questions

Q) How can I recycle my Paper?

A) There are three ways to recycle paper - put it in your kerbside collection, in your local recycling bank, or bring them to your HWRC.

Q) What paper can I recycle - there are so many sorts!?

A) How you can recycle different types of paper depends on where you live. Find out more about the details for your area.

Q) Can I Recycle envelopes?

A) Yes but envelopes with windows should have the plastic windows removed before being recycled. Some Council collected these in the composting bin as well. See question above.

Q) Can I recycle phone books and yellow pages?

A) If you live in Huntingdonshire, Fenland District, Peterborough City and East Cambridgeshire these can be recycled in your recycling box or bin. If you live South Cambridgeshire or Cambridge City please recycled them in your composing collection (green-wheeled bin).

Q) Can I recycle shredded paper?

It can be added to home compost bins or If you live in Cambridgeshire it can be put into your kerbside composting collection (green or brown bins or brown sack).

Q) How can I reduce the amount of paper I use?

A) Reduce the amount of paper you use by using both sides of the paper, re-using envelopes or use pieces as scrap paper to write notes or shopping lists. Think before you bin it!