It doesn’t matter if you’re a commercial business or a homeowner, just about every day we all
receive mail. The problem is, when we’re all trying to keep our paper usage to a minimum, what are
the rules when it comes to recycling mail?
recycling your mail:
Advertising Mail
It doesn’t matter if we have little signs on our doors asking for no junk mail, there always seems to
be leaflets that make it through our letterboxes. Thankfully, though, most of these items can be
easily recycled, so you can worry less about the impact this junk mail has on the planet.
You will need to watch out for junk mail that contains address labels or fake plastic credit cards. As
these will need to be removed and put into your normal bin. You should also be careful about
recycling any advertising mail that might contain sensitive information – such as your name, address
and/or phone number. In these cases, you can remove the sensitive information and recycle the
generic part of the mail.
Newspapers
While not all of us get a newspaper – and if we do, we may have switched to the more
environmentally friendly online version – many of us still receive free newspapers though our doors
every week. That’s because many local communities have their own paper, which gets sent around
the town with local news and advertisements for local shops and events.
Well, regardless of whether you get a newspaper delivered or your get a free one, either way your
paper be fully recycled and can be put in your paper bin when you’re finished with it.
Envelopes with Windows
While we won’t want to recycle letters with personal information in them, you will want to recycle
the leaflets and envelopes that you get with them. Now, you may have heard that envelopes that
contain a plastic address window cannot be recycled, however, this isn’t the case.
That’s because, when your recycling centre pulps all the paper together, things like plastic windows
as well as staples will be filtered out and safely removed. You can always remove this plastic window
before recycling the paper.
Catalogues and Magazines
When it comes to magazines and catalogues, many of us keep these for a long period of time.
Especially when you’re planning something like a wedding or before Christmas when you’re
shopping a lot. What happens when these magazines are no longer needed – especially when many
of these mags have a lot of staples and may have some samples (like scratch and sniff perfume
pages).
Not to worry, though, as your full catalogue and magazine can be put in your paper bin without
removing any of these.
Padded Envelopes
Many of us get padded envelopes with our internet purchases, where the envelopes have a layer of
padded bubble wrap inside. However, because of these inserts, you can’t just chuck your envelope
into the paper bin. What you can do, though is remove this bubble wrapper and then recycle your
envelope.
Be aware, though, some of these envelopes have a plastic coating on them, which makes them
unsuitable for paper recycling. In this case, have a look around the envelope as there may be a label
that advises you on what to do.
