Paper Recycling

[rabet]

I have just discovered that our local recycling centre will no longer accept paper. The local council provides a small sack but collects only once every four weeks. This is seriously inadequate and the house is filling up with newspapers etc. Anyone else have this problem? And what are the available solutions?

[diddlydo]

Lobby your council to provide a decent recycling service! We have a huge wheelie-bin for ALL recyclables so we don't even have to sort them. It's collected once a fortnight and ours is never more than 2/3 full.

[woofgang]

put it in your rubbish bin, subscribe to a paper online?

[cupid04]

Have a bonfire!

[alavahalf]

Put them in your bin with your household rubbish if you can't recycle them.

[Captain2]

Most large Supermarkets round us have Recycling Bins of all descriptions including for paper. Worth having a look next time you go shopping?

[Buenchico]

Like Diddlydo, our local council simply has a single bin for all recyclables. Further, though, they have a policy of accepting recyclable items that aren't actually in the bin. So, for example, if the bin's already full, items such as newspapers, metal cans, plastic bottles, etc can be placed inside a clear plastic sack (so that the bin men can see the contents) and left alongside the bin. Similarly large cardboard boxes, etc, can simply be left by the bin.

So perhaps your own council will accept paper that's in, say, a cardboard box or a clear plastic bag, as well as that which is in the 'proper' sack?

Your previous posts have mentioned that you're in South Yorkshire and 'on the eastern slopes of the Pennines' but Sheffield uses blue boxes, rather than bags, so I assume that you don't live there.

Barnsley have run out of their white bags anyway, so you can use any plastic bag ("Currently, we have no white recycling sacks in stock, so please place any paper you need collecting in a carrier or plastic bag and we'll collect it as usual" https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/bins-rubbish-and-recycling/what-goes-in-your-bin/ ).

Rotherham permit you to use clear plastic bags ("If your blue bag is full, further items can be placed in a clear plastic bag on top of your blue bag" http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/info/524/household_waste_-_rubbish_collections/714/see_which_bin_or_container_to_use/5 )

Doncaster allows the use of carrier bags ("Please use your blue bag to present paper only. If you don’t have a blue bag please use a carrier bag (clearly identifiable as recycling). Materials presented in a black sack (bin liner) will not be collected." http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/bins-recycling-waste/blue-bag-paper ).

So it seems likely that you can still get your excess paper collected from your home. If not, as Captain2 suggests, major supermarkets often have paper banks on the edge of their car parks (as do some community centres, doctors' surgeries, etc).

[atalanta]

I give all my newspapers to a farmer, who is glad to get them. She uses them to mop up all sorts of unspeakable stuff all over her farm. She actually asked for them on Freecycle/Freegle, so maybe if you use that service you could find someone who can actually use them in a similar way.

[marval]

We have pink sacks for recycling paper, cardboard and plastic. They are collected once a week, along with the other rubbish.