Keep your paper and card dry
#StampOutTheDamp campaign
A bit of rain on plastic or metal recyclables will not make them unrecyclable, but moisture poses a problem for paper and cardboard. It’s therefore important to make sure paper and cardboard are as dry as possible to protect their recyclability.
When fibre materials are wet they are losing its quality, making such material not suitable to be sent to the paper recyclers companies (re-processors) who expects paper and cardboard to be as dry as possible. In addition wet paper and card is very challenging to sort at the Material Recycling Facility as it quickly becomes compacted and ‘brick-like’, affecting its efficiency and performance.
It’s therefore important to make sure paper and cardboard are as dry as possible to protect their recyclability.
If you are living in Bracknell Forest and Reading Borough, the best way to protect paper and cardboard recycling from rain is to always close the lid on your wheelie bin and don’t place excess cardboard and paper next to the bin on a rainy day.
If you are a Wokingham resident, whilst the open boxes help reducing general contamination, it is a challenge to prevent the paper/card getting wet. While the Council has reacted quickly to this challenge and is looking into various options to find a permanent solution for this problem, nothing can be done immediately. So, in the short-term, the council is launching its ‘Stamp Out the Damp’ campaign to encourage as many residents as possible to keep their paper and card recycling dry.
Ways that will help keep your card and paper dry, when it’s wet outside, include:
- Cover your recycling box with something waterproof
- Keep your recycling inside if you have space
- Keep your recycling in your garage or shed
- Stack your black boxes with the paper filled one at the bottom
- Put your black boxes out on the morning of collection rather than night before
Please do your best to keep your recyclables protected so we can recycle as much as possible. We recognise that only the most dedicated recyclers are willing to hold their recyclable paper and card until the next sunny day, however making small changes and putting in any efforts by everyone will make a huge difference. Thank you for helping us to keep our paper and cardboard dry.