Most paper you encounter daily is recyclable: office paper, newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, junk mail, and paperboard packaging like cereal boxes. But not all paper makes the cut. Items contaminated with food, coated with plastic, or made from heavily processed fibers typically can’t go in your recycling bin. Knowing the difference keeps useful material in the recycling stream and prevents contamination that can ruin entire batches.
Paper That Goes in the Recycling Bin
Standard curbside recycling programs accept a wide range of paper products. The EPA groups recyclable paper into several grades, each of which gets processed into different new products. Corrugated cardboard (the thick, wavy-layered kind used for shipping boxes) is one of the most commonly recycled materials in the world. Mills turn it back into new shipping boxes and paperboard packaging like cereal and shoe boxes.
Newspapers are another major category. They get recycled into new newsprint, tissue products, and paperboard. High-grade paper, which includes letterhead, copier paper, printer paper, and envelopes, holds the most value because its fibers are long and strong. Mixed paper, a catch-all grade covering magazines, catalogs, phone books, and junk mail, is also widely accepted.
Here’s a quick reference for what’s typically accepted:
- Office and printer paper: white and colored sheets, letterhead, copier paper
- Newspapers and inserts
- Magazines and catalogs
- Cardboard: shipping boxes, moving boxes (flattened)
- Paperboard: cereal boxes, shoe boxes, tissue boxes
- Mail: envelopes, junk mail, paper bags
- Notebooks and loose-leaf paper
Staples, Tape, and Sticky Notes
You don’t need to remove staples or paper clips before recycling. Paper mills are designed to filter out these small metal contaminants during the pulping process. The EPA confirms that removing them is unnecessary, though you can pull off binder clips and paper clips to reuse them.
Sticky notes are also fine in most programs. The light adhesive used on them is removed during processing at any mill equipped to handle mixed paper. Small pieces of tape on envelopes or wrapping won’t cause problems either. Plastic windows on envelopes get screened out at the mill, so you can toss the whole envelope in without tearing the window out first.
Paper That Can’t Be Recycled
The main reasons paper gets rejected are food contamination, chemical coatings, and fiber quality too low to reprocess. These materials either introduce grease and chemicals into the recycling stream or contain elements that can’t be separated at the mill.
Paper towels, napkins, and facial tissues are made from short, heavily processed fibers that have already reached the end of their useful life. Even clean ones aren’t worth recycling. Used ones carry food residue and moisture that would contaminate the batch. Composting is a better option for these.
Food-soiled paper is a big one. Pizza boxes with grease stains, takeout containers with sauce residue, and any paper soaked with oil or food waste will contaminate other recyclables. Grease doesn’t dissolve in the water-based pulping process, so it spreads through the entire batch and weakens the new paper. If only the lid of a pizza box is clean, some programs let you tear it off and recycle just that portion.
Thermal Receipts and Coated Paper
Those shiny receipts from grocery stores and gas stations are printed on thermal paper, which contains chemical coatings that react to heat to produce text. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recommends keeping thermal receipts out of both recycling and compost bins. The chemicals embedded in the paper can contaminate other recyclables during processing and end up in wastewater from recycling plants. Many cities treat thermal paper as a contaminant in the recycling stream. When in doubt, throw receipts in the trash.
Frozen food boxes present a similar problem. Unlike regular paperboard, they’re infused with a layer of polyethylene plastic that keeps the packaging rigid and water-resistant in freezing temperatures. This plastic is bonded into the paper itself, not just layered on top, making it nearly impossible to separate during recycling. Portland, Oregon, and Phoenix are among the cities that reject frozen food boxes. Check with your local program, but assume they’re not recyclable unless told otherwise.
The Shredded Paper Problem
Shredded paper is technically recyclable, but it causes real headaches at sorting facilities. The tiny strips get caught in conveyor belts and screening machinery, jamming equipment and slowing down operations. Most curbside programs don’t accept loose shredded paper for this reason.
If your program does accept it, the typical instruction is to place it in a paper bag, fold the top closed, and label it. This keeps the strips contained until they reach the mill. The EPA notes that shredded paper can be recycled as a mixed grade as long as it’s cut to an appropriate size and isn’t mixed with plastic. Cross-cut shredding (which produces small confetti-like pieces) is harder to recycle than strip-cut shredding because the fibers are shorter.
How Many Times Paper Gets Recycled
Paper fibers shorten every time they’re pulped and reformed. High-quality printing paper can survive about seven trips through the recycling process, being remade into new printing paper and eventually into lower-grade products. Short-fiber paper like newsprint and cardboard typically lasts three or four cycles before the fibers become too small to bond together effectively.
This is why recycling programs need a constant supply of both virgin and recycled fiber. Each cycle degrades the material slightly, and the shortest fibers eventually wash out as waste during pulping. The final stop for most paper fiber is a low-grade product like egg cartons or insulation before it exits the recycling loop entirely. This lifecycle is also why recycling high-grade paper (like clean white office paper) has more value than recycling newsprint. It starts with longer fibers and has more useful cycles ahead of it.
Recycling Symbols on Paper Products
Some paper products carry PAP codes inside a recycling triangle. PAP 20 indicates cardboard, PAP 21 means mixed paper, and PAP 22 marks plain paper. These codes identify the material type but don’t guarantee your local program accepts it. Acceptance depends on what processing equipment your regional facility has and what markets exist for the recovered material. Your municipality’s website or waste hauler is the most reliable source for what goes in your specific bin.