Look closely and you’ll notice that this batch of white paper consists of a mix of light green papers. White paper is considered high grade paper, and coloured papers is low grade. Is this recyclable? Yes, it is.
However, if the coloured papers are stapled or bundled together, it would not be possible for automated paper sensors to sort paper into the different grades (white vs coloured), which might cause the whole batch to be low grade paper instead.
The right way of recycling would be to sort paper into the different grades right at the start, so as to increase the quality of paper recycled. Staples do not need to be removed for recycling. However, if the papers are bundled together with bigger attachments, these will have to be removed prior to recycling.
- Office documents – Recyclable
- Attachments like plastic bags, rubber bands, binders, metal clips or raffia strings – Not recyclable