Where do Shredded paper go?

Shredding cuts the fibres short, which lowers the value of the paper, and loose shreds behave like confetti on a sorting line — they fall through screens and end up in the wrong bales. Some councils accept shredded paper if it is contained in a paper bag or an envelope; some accept it in the food waste or garden waste bin, where it is composted; some refuse it entirely. This is one of the clearest cases where you have to check locally, because the same handful of paper is accepted three different ways within twenty miles. Home composting is a reliable fallback for plain paper, and it makes good brown material for a heap.

How to prepare it

1. Put shreds inside a paper bag or an envelope if your scheme takes them that way.
2. Compost plain shredded paper as brown material; it is excellent for that.
3. Keep glossy and thermal paper out of the shredder pile.

What not to do

• Never tip loose shreds into the kerbside bin unless your council specifically says to — they blow around and contaminate other bales.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to kerbside recycling bin

• Pizza boxes Recyclable if the card is only greasy; not if it is soaked or has food stuck to it. Tear off the clean lid if in doubt.
• Aerosol cans Empty aerosols go in the kerbside recycling in most areas. Never pierce them, never crush them, never bin a part-full one.
• Wrapping paper Plain paper: recycle. Foil, plastic-coated or glittery: general waste. The scrunch test settles it.
• Drinks cartons (Tetra Pak) Recyclable, but only where your scheme says so — they need a mill that separates the card from the plastic and foil.
• Aluminium foil and foil trays Recyclable if it is clean. Scrunch it into a ball the size of a fist so the sorters can see it.
• Plastic bottle caps Leave the cap on the empty bottle. That is now the standard advice in most places.
• Envelopes with plastic windows Kerbside paper recycling in most areas — modern pulping screens the window out.
• Black plastic food trays Historically rejected because the optical sorter could not see them. Increasingly accepted now — check your council.