CardboardPaper & MagazinesPaper Bgs
BooksJuiceboxes & MilkboxesPaper Cups
Paper, Cardboard & Such
Paper towels, tissues and wipes are NOT recyclable
Clean or dirty, the fibers in tissue-type papers are too short to make into something new. Dispose of paper towels, tissues, and wipes in your garbage, please.
Recycle Cardboard Boxes
WHAT:
- Cardboard frozen and refrigerated food boxes
- Greeting Cards (but not with glitter or metallic inks or foils)
- Boxboard (for example cereal boxes, the tubes from rolls of paper towels, and boxes medicines come in)
- Corrugated cardboard
- Pizza boxes (grease is okay, but remove all of the food and that little table thingy) and clean paper plates
Including: Climacell insulation pads
But NO:
- NO styrofoam
- NO plastic bags – Recycle them with Plastic Grocery and Bread Bags
- NO padded envelopes
- NO construction paper
- NO wax coated produce boxes
WHERE:
Accepted curbside or at any Emmet County Drop-off Recycling Site in the Paper, Boxes and Bags cart or bin.
DROP-OFF RECYCLING SITE NOTE:
Small cardboard (small enough to fit in a brown paper bag) can go in the Paper, Boxes and Bags category at the Recycling Sites. Otherwise please use the Large Cardboard bin. If your cardboard for drop-off is very large, avoid the difficulty of loading it into a Drop-off Recycling Site bin and instead take it to the Drop-Off Center. Ask the attendant to point out the cardboard tipping area.
CURBSIDE RECYCLING NOTE:
Our curbside trucks are designed to collect day-to-day quantities of cardboard from households. Please observe the following limits:
- Quantity: Businesses and institutions which regularly generate larger quantities of cardboard can recycle it either at the Drop-off Recycling Sites, at the Drop-off Center, or by setting up collection service through any of the waste haulers serving Emmet County (specify separate collection for recycling). Call 231-348-0640 for our brochure on cardboard recycling for businesses.
- Size: To be accepted curbside, cardboard must be in pieces under 2 feet by 2 feet. They must also fit in the cart with the lid shut. Larger boxes are accepted at the Drop-Off Recycling Sites and at the Drop-off Center.
HOW:
- You don’t have to remove tape or staples
- Glossy printing on the boxes is not a problem. The non-recyclable “waxed” boxes literally are covered in wax which you can scrape off with your finger nail.
- Both gray and white boxboard are okay
- Remove plastic bags, foam and other packing materials
- Flatten all boxes
- All boxes are accepted together in the same drop-site bin
Recycle Papers, Newspapers and Magazines
WHAT:
- File Folders
- Junk Mail and Envelopes
- Shredded Paper
- Office Paper (copier, computer printer, letterhead)**
- Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags*
- Greeting Cards*
- Magazines and Catalogs
- Newspapers
But No:
- NO thermal receipts (glossy)
- NO tissue paper, paper towels or napkins
- NO padded envelopes
- NO newspapers which have gotten wet or yellowed
- No Cards, bags or wrapping paper with glitter or metallic inks or foils
HOW:
- Please bag your shredded paper. This prevents it from blowing away if it is collected curbside AND makes it possible for the sorters to send it to it’s “highest and best use”. Please use a bag that is at least semi-transparent (i.e a white plastic grocery bag) so the drivers and sorters know what is inside.
- EASY! There’s no need to remove the following: mailing labels, paper clips, staples, stickers, sticky notes, tape
- EASY! Envelopes with plastic windows are okay: there’s no need to remove the plastic
- If junk mail feels like it has a CD, credit card, or other non-paper items in the envelope, please open it and remove these before recycling it
Shredding now available at the drop-off center.
We now offer document shredding service at the Drop-off Center for $10/banker's box or $12 for large banker's box. Schedule an appointment online with the button below to watch your document be shredded or drop it off in our secure gated shredding area. Remember to remove binders and spiral bound booklets/pads, binder clips, and hanging folders (with the metal bars). No need to remove paper clips, staples, pastel colored papers, manila file folders, glue or staple bound booklets/pads, light cardboard. Note: Documents are NOT automatically shredded in the ordinary sorting and baling process
Make a Shredding Appointment
WHERE:
Accepted curbside or at any Emmet County Drop-off Recycling Site in the Paper, Boxes and Bags bin.
Recycle Paper Bags
WHAT:
- Gift Bags*
- Pharmacy Bags
- Bread Bags
- Shopping Bags
- Brown Paper Grocery Bags
But No:
- Waxy bakery bags
HOW:
- Gift bags with glitter and/or metallic inks or foils are NOT recyclable.
- Plastic bags and plastic mailing envelopes (i.e. Tyvek, stretchy mail order) can be recycled in the Paper, Boxes and Bags too. Help out your sort crew: please use one of your bags to bag up the rest.
WHERE:
Accepted curbside or at any Emmet County Recycling Drop Site in the Paper, Boxes and Bags bin.
Recycle Books
WHAT:
- Board books (preschoolers’)
- Phone books
- Softcover books
- Hardcover books
But No:
- Spiral Bindings
WHERE:
- In the Paper, Boxes and Bags bin
- Accepted curbside or at any Emmet County Drop-off Recycling Site
HOW:
- Libraries and institutions: If you have large numbers of books to recycle, please call 231-348-0640. We’ll set up a convenient system for you to recycle them. Large numbers of books at curbside or in the drop-site bins cause trouble on the sort line. Thank you!
- If you have large quantities of books to recycle curbside, please spread them out over several weeks so they don’t weigh down the tote or cart too badly.
Recycle Juice Boxes, Milk Cartons, and Paper Cups
WHAT:
- Aseptic beverage cartons: for example juices boxes, soup, and broth boxes,
- Milk-type cartons (“gable top”). Some juice also comes packaged in these.
- Ice cream cartons
- Paper cups
But No:
- NO Styrofoam, or paper cups coated with Styrofoam
- NO juice pouches
WHERE:
Accepted curbside or at any Emmet County Drop-off Recycling Site In the CONTAINERS bins. Yes, the Containers bins. Why?
The factories that use our papers, boxes and bags need them to stay dry. Whereas those that use the containers can tolerate residual liquids that are found in cartons, cups, bottles, jugs and the like.
HOW:
Please rinse them out. That’s it.
The cartons you recycle supply Great Lakes Tissue (GLT) in Cheboygan (in the former Proctor and Gamble plant on Main Street). Cartons are composed of three layers: an outer, printed plastic layer; a white middle layer made up of high quality paper; and an inner layer including plastic and sometimes aluminum. GLT uses a machine called a hydropulper to separate the paper from the plastic and/or aluminum. They produce napkins, paper towels, and facial tissues from the recovered paper. Great Lakes Tissue can use wine boxes, broth/soup cartons, paper cups and paper ice cream tubs, so you can recycle those, too!
Now sorted by one of our recycling robots: watch it in action here: