Paper recycling

Tips for householders

• Paper and cardboard can be recycled by placing them in the yellow topped recycling bin. Remember to rip cardboard boxes into smaller pieces to make more room.
• Place your recycling bin out the night before your fortnightly kerbside collection.

Which paper/cardboard can be recycled?

• Newspaper.
• Magazines.
• Advertising leaflet.
• Telephone books.
• Letters or writing paper.
• Cardboard and cardboard boxes.
• Egg cartons.
• Envelopes (tear out plastic windows).

Note:
Remember to remove all staples, paper clips, string or other non-paper bindings.
Paper and cardboard need to be placed loosely in your recycling bin and not in a plastic bag.

No room in your residential recycling bin?
There is no limit to the number of recycling bins you can have at home. It costs $65.00* per year (2006-07 financial year) for each additional recycling bin, for a fortnightly collection.  Just call us for details.

Alternatively, why not ask your neighbour to see whether they have spare room in their recycling bin and offer to return the favour

*Council’s fees and charges are adjusted at July 1 each year. 

Which paper/cardboard cannot be recycled?

• Paper which has been contaminated by food such as pizza boxes, paper plates and paper towels.
• Waxed paper and cardboard cartons.
• Plastic coated paper bags (eg, cereal bags).
• Plastic bags - they can be recycyled at the supermarket.
• Gummed labels.
• Carbon paper.
• Thermal fax paper.

Tips for the office

• Use cardboard desk recyclers and waste paper bins at your photocopier & printer, which are available from your local stationery supplier.
• Buy recycled paper and make double sided photocopying standard practice;
• Have scrap paper, old letterhead or forms rebound for message or notepads.

Free recycling of bulk paper
Bulk waste paper can be recycled for free by simply bringing it to one of our Waste Depots.

How much paper does Wollongong recycle?
Paper is the most recycled material in Wollongong making up 63% of all materials recycled. Over 7,600 tonnes of paper was recycled in the Wollongong area in 2002.

Recycling paper-the process:

1. The paper mill at Botany takes our recycled paper from Wollongong for processing. Unlike the method of making paper from virgin materials, making paper from waste paper rarely requires chemical pre-treatment;
2. The waste paper is mixed with water in a machine that looks like a giant blender and converted to a thin slurry of individual fibres.  This slurry is treated to remove contaminants such as plastic, string and paper clips using sophisticated screening techniques.  It is then made into paper in the same way as making paper from virgin material.