Paper consists of natural fibres, which are a valuable raw material. Household paper, cardboard, packaging material and other paper waste can be turned into waste paper through the recycling process. This prevents a useful raw material from ending up in landfill. Thousands of tonnes of paper are recycled every year and waste is reduced.

 

However, waste paper cannot be recycled at will. Paper is usually reprocessed five to seven times before the fibres become too weak and brittle. It is therefore necessary to produce new paper that can be integrated into the recycling chain.

Waste paper has a lower quality than the original product. However, the paper products can usually be recycled into the same product with little loss of quality. Corrugated cardboard is processed into new, recycled corrugated cardboard. Lower quality waste paper becomes packaging material, insulation material or animal bedding.

All types of paper can be recycled. It is important that the paper is kept free of food residues, adhesives, wax, glass, metal or plastic, as these can damage the paper fibres during processing and reduce the quality. Paper that cannot be recycled is composted, incinerated or dumped in the ground.