This is an especially large problem of which we need to remind ourselves around the holidays every year. Much of the wrapping we use is recyclable, but much of it is not.
What is not recyclable is any wrapping made from cellophane or plastic foil. If it’s really paper and simply has shiny and sparkly designs printed on it that are made of a plastic or foil material, the design will float off when the paper is pulped at the mills, so it is able to be screened out, like the windows in an envelope. It is then either burned for energy or moved to a landfill. That is determined by the mill, not by us, but either way is better than tossing it all in the landfill.
Aluminum foil can be crumpled and recycled, but it’s much too wasteful in resources to use it for wrapping, so please don’t wrap gifts with it yourself, but be sure to recycle it if someone else uses it.
I urge everyone to use only paper that has nothing but ink in its designs, and to then try to re-use it first, either for additional wrapping or for packing material. If it’s too torn and mangled to use it again, then recycle it. Anything but paper (or aluminum foil), you will need to put in the trash.
It is often difficult to tell what you have for wrapping materials, so the default discard solution here really needs to be the trash. If it goes into recycling, but can’t be recycled, entire lots of recyclables can possibly be pulled out with it and trashed by the processor. In a waste to energy plant, any of the wrappings not recycled will be burned with other trash, but, in the meantime, they go to a landfill. Either way, we need to put that stuff directly into the trash without anyone processing it as recyclable first, then trashing it. Both the dollar and the environmental costs are too high for processing materials twice. In general, if it tears like paper, it probably is paper. If not, then it’s trash.
Please also be aware of the same issue with gift boxes. If they are silvery or gold colored, or shiny, they probably have a plastic or foil coating on them. Whenever possible, we should choose white or printed cardboard boxes for our gifts. Those we can fully recycle.
An interesting side note is tissue paper. My reading suggests that tissue paper is made from very short paper fibers. That might indicate that the paper from which it’s made has been recycled before, but it definitely means the tissue paper is of a low enough quality that it does not mix well with office paper, envelopes, letters, etc. Its use should be minimized, then it should be used for packaging, or put into the trash.
Lastly, please don’t forget the ribbons and bows. They look very nice, but they are not recyclable in any of our local systems. The best solution, of course, is to not use them in the first place, but their appeal is undeniable, so we know they will be around in large quantities. When you’re done opening the packages, the next best thing is to put them in a bag and keep them again for next year. The bow can be re-attached to a new box with a small piece of tape or a spot of glue, which are a lot less problematic than more new bows and ribbons. You could also use string to tie up the packages, which is easily reused for other purposes.
Your weekly question and answer column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com
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