Can I recycle paper with ink on it?

Used toilet paper can be recycled.

Fax paper tickets or receipts are not recyclable because they are made of thermal paper. The printing of this paper is done by printers that do not use ink cartridges but the paper itself carries the components necessary for printing. In these cases the printing is done by heat, hence the name thermal paper. The thermal layer that covers the paper base is made up of a large number of chemical compounds that, when subjected to heat, react with each other and generate the image.  The printing is not very durable.

Paper and cardboard recycling

The paper that is recycled can be ground paper, which is the trimmings and scraps of paper left over from the manufacture of paper and recycled in the paper mill, post-consumer waste, which are those papers already used that the consumer discards, such as magazines, newspapers, office paper… and pre-consumer waste, those that have been discarded to prepare them for consumption.

Ecological paper should not be confused with recycled paper. Ecological paper is so called because the amount of energy and natural resources used in its production has been reduced, and its bleaching is carried out using oxygen or its derivatives or using other processes in which chlorine is not used.

This type of paper was first produced in Japan as an initiative of the Mainichi Newspapers Co. Ltd. newspaper. It launched a special edition of its newspaper written with vegetable ink and in which a large number of seeds were inserted.

The liters of water saved by recycling paper, liters of oil, pollutants and the amount of energy should also be taken into account. Paper recycling companies often use energy from biomass. In terms of pollution, recycling reduces water pollution by 35% and air pollution by 74%.

Paper recycling for children

Paper recycling is one of the most important recycling methods available. It avoids the felling of many trees and also avoids the use of toxic bleaches such as chlorine, which, if not properly managed, ends up being released into the environment. However, although recycling paper and cardboard is such an important task, it is also necessary to remember that not all types of paper can be recycled. In fact, some of them will have to be discarded and will end up in an incinerator once used without anything being done about it. If you want to know what kind of paper can and cannot be recycled, keep reading Green Ecology and we will tell you about it.

In fact, when we talk about recycling paper, we are referring to cellulose. That is, the main material that makes up paper and is extracted from the wood of trees. However, for this cellulose to be recycled, it must be in an acceptable condition. This means that if it is paper or cardboard that has undergone certain chemical treatments, or has simply been stained with dirt that cannot be removed, the paper in question is unusable for recycling.

Where to take paper for recycling

Paper is a delicate material that is damaged by the weather. It needs protected collection points and rigorous sorting for recycling. Recyclers have to separate paper from cardboard, which must always be free of grease or moisture. To help them, you can tie the different kinds of paper together with string.

Three types of cardboard are selected: Gray cardboard Straw cardboard: brown or beige in color, the most common. Kraft cardboard: particularly strong, with 5-7 corrugated sheets, used to make crates for fruit and vegetables.