City Recycling Staff Remind You To Throw Gift Wrap In The Garbage

The saying “to give is better to receive” may or may not be true, but at least one city recycling manager wants you to think about the gift that keeps on giving: not putting your used wrapping paper in the recycling bin.

Recycling manager remind you to use recyclable materials–most wrapping paper is not–to wrap gifts this holiday season.

“It’s a really low-grade paper, and it tends to have a lot of additives (metal, glitter, etc.), so it’s not good to be recycled into new paper,” said Brooklyn Park Recycling Manager Tim Pratt. “Most likely, it just falls apart when it gets in the pulper at the recycling plant and gets pushed off into the garbage heap.”

Instead, Pratt and other recycling managers ask that you dispose of gift wrap in the trash, or, if possible, find other gift wrapping options. Those can include: reusable gift bags, newspaper, brown paper bags, road maps, or even using part of the gift itself as wrapping (like a towel, shirt, or other fabric, for instance.)

When using gift bags, gift givers often use tissue paper to conceal the gift inside. Pratt reminds you that tissue paper is also not recyclable.

“It’s paper, so people think it’s recyclable,” said Pratt. “If you feel it, you’ll see it’s pretty thin. It‘s just not good for making a new piece of paper. So, tissue paper, if you’re going to use it again, don’t put it in your recycling container. Put that in your trash.”

For more recycling tips from the City of Brooklyn Park, click here.

Brooklyn Park | Twin Cities

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