Did you know that most recycling centers, like the one that serves Richardson, do not accept home-shredded paper? This is because the tiny fragments can clog machinery and are hard, if not impossible, to separate by hand from other recyclables.
If you have your own paper shredder, be sure to place the shredded remains in trash bags and not with recyclables, as they will “contaminate” a recycling bag so that nothing in the bag gets recycled. Home-shredded paper that’s plain, non-glossy, and free of a lot of ink may also be used as a “brown” part of composting.
Or, take the shreds to a community shredding event—these events (like the one at Richardson’s Trash Bash each spring) usually involve a shredding company that bales the shreds before they’re sent to a recycling facility, which accepts the bales as they arrive ready for sale, to be made into other products.
The City offers a link on its Residential Recycling page to a local year-round commercial shredding service.
More information: Residential Recycling | Richardson, TX
