Do I recycle or compost paper and cardboard?

Recycling is fantastic because it keeps waste paper out of landfill, and you can recycle paper sustainably. It doesn’t have to be done with just a recycling bin.

Clean paper recycling

Only clean paper and paper products can go in recycle bins because contamination interferes with the paper recycling process. Contaminants include oil, grease, food residue, waterproof coating and sticky tape.

However, you don’t have to landfill all waste paper that are unsuitable for factory recycling. Some types can be reused to make compost.

Sorting waste paper

Sorting paper and cardboard for recycling is good practice. For example, recycle the clean top half of an empty pizza box and compost its oily bottom half.

Another example is sorting paper towels stained with food for composting and discarding those soiled with cleaning chemicals.

How does waste paper help composting?

Garden waste can get too dry to compost properly because of its low water absorbency. Shredded or torn paper mixed in your wastes can help retain the water you add to moisten your compost.

Cardboard can help if the opposite occurs - a stinky, slimy mess resulting from too much water in a traditional compost bin or tumbler. To remove the bad smell, mix in torn up cardboard to help separate the waste matter and absorb water.

In compost jargon, paper and cardboard are carbon-rich wastes. Take care not to add too much since an excess in carbon slows composting.

Send less paper to landfill

Recycled paper products are made sustainably from clean paper and cardboard. You can recycle food stained waste paper into compost at home, or even compost it along with food waste using a compost system like Bioverter. Less paper ends up in landfills if you sort your wastes for recycling and composting.