Health & Fitness
If it Rips, Recycle it!
Swampscott residents have significantly stepped up paper recycling efforts.
The best way to determine if waste paper can be recycled is to rip it. If it rips, it can be recycled!
Computer paper, junk mail, newspapers, phonebooks, file folders, boxes from dry food items, shoe boxes, tissue boxes and paper rolls can go in the recycle bin. There’s no need to remove staples, paper clips or the metal spirals in notebooks. Pasta boxes and envelopes with the cellophane windows intact can be recycled as is.
Jigsaw puzzles, wall calendars, craft paper, posters, greeting cards, to-go cups with their sleeves, and paper shreddings can be recycled, as well as magazines and catalogs. Large pieces of cardboard should be folded or cut to 4’x4’ pieces so the material will fit into the truck easily. If pizza boxes have a greasy portion, just tear off the greasy part and throw that away and recycle the rest.
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Since the Waste Reduction Program began in November of 2011, Swampscott residents have steadily increased paper recycling. In these four months residents have recycled 257 tons of paper - that's 47 tons above and beyond what was recycled last year during the same time period!
Recycling paper makes good fiscal sense plus it’s also beneficial for the environment. For every ton of paper that is collected the Town receives a small stipend. Yet, conversely, when paper is thrown in the trash, it costs the Town $83 per ton, which is the tipping fee charged at the incinerator.
Find out what's happening in Swampscottwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the latest US EPA figures, recycling 1 short ton (2,000 lbs.) of paper saves 17 medium sized trees, 7 thousand gallons of water, and enough energy to power the average American home for six months.
A few paper-like items that don’t pass the ‘rip test’ or are not accepted by recovery and processing facilities are: waxed paper or waxed cardboard, Tyvek envelopes, photographs, takeout food cartons, and ice cream and gabled containers without a plastic spout, i.e. orange juice carton. These items may be left behind in the bin.
To support paper recycling efforts, it’s a good practice to purchase paper products which have a ‘post-consumer’ content label. That way you know that recycled fiber was used to manufacture the new product.
