Recycling Receipts/cashpoint receipts

strangeotron

Is it safe to do this?

I don't own a shredder nor the will to individually scissor up the drawer full of receipts I have.

I have a ton of them, mainly because i use the post office to get money and each interaction comes with a receipt. But some portion of the number is blocked out.

Are there any alternatives?

SailorSam

If part of your number is blocked out i can't see there would be a problem, if you've got a Compost bin throw things in there.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

strangeotron wrote: »

I don't own a shredder...

Any particular reason? Lack of space? Lack of money? Philosophical or religious reason?

£8.85 from Amazon

Worth it for peace of mind. Wouldn't be without my electric one.

Bennifred

Burn them?

Nick_C

I don't own a shredder because the council won't recycle shredded paper. Receipts go in the recycling bin. Bank statements etc, I cut out any personal info and flush it down the loo!

The_Green_Hornet

Nick_C wrote: »

I don't own a shredder because the council won't recycle shredded paper. Receipts go in the recycling bin. Bank statements etc, I cut out any personal info and flush it down the loo!

I looked at my own council's web site and it states the following:

Can I recycle shredded paper?
Ideally you should only be shredding confidential documents and not all paper. Recycling paper works best when the sheets are larger as this means the fibres within it are longer and can be recycled a greater number of times.
If you do have shredded paper the best thing to do with it, is put in your home compost bin. It will add useful dry/brown material to balance the wet/green kitchen waste you are putting in. Otherwise if you have pets such as rabbits or guinea pigs, use the shredded paper as animal bedding.

However, I have put shredded paper in the recycling bag every week and they happily take it away.

If yours is adamant that they won't take it with your recycling, and they don't offer a garden/food waste bin where you can put them in, your only option is to shred them and stick them in your general waste bin.

Sometimes it isn't easy being green.

Nick_C

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

I have put shredded paper in the recycling bag every week and they happily take it away.

If your council collects paper (or paper and card) separately from other material, then shredded paper should not be a problem, although it can blow around and make a mess if they have to tip a container (box/bin) into a collection vehicle. You can help them by putting your shredded paper inside a cereal carton or large envelope.

If your council collects mixed recycling, then shredded paper will cause a problem when it gets to the MRF (materials recovery facility), where the recycling is separated. Shredded paper gets wrapped around the rollers on the conveyor belts and the spindles of the disc screens. Some councils will take it because they are desperate to increase their recycling rate, and want to make things as easy as possible for their residents. Others will reject your bin as contaminated.

The_Green_Hornet

Nick_C wrote: »

If your council collects paper (or paper and card) separately from other material, then shredded paper should not be a problem, although it can blow around and make a mess if they have to tip a container (box/bin) into a collection vehicle. You can help them by putting your shredded paper inside a cereal carton or large envelope.

If your council collects mixed recycling, then shredded paper will cause a problem when it gets to the MRF (materials recovery facility), where the recycling is separated. Shredded paper gets wrapped around the rollers on the conveyor belts and the spindles of the disc screens. Some councils will take it because they are desperate to increase their recycling rate, and want to make things as easy as possible for their residents. Others will reject your bin as contaminated.

We don't have mixed recycling bins, only mixed recycling bags, so there is no possibility of it blowing around and making a mess.

The promotional blurb from the local MRF states that their machines can handle shredded paper so nothing to worry about there. Maybe your council is just being picky and/or you are simply worrying unnecessarily.

want_to_save

flushing down the loo cant be good for the system
our council does not take shredded paper but that goes in the bin or to a friend with hamster/bird for bottom of cage

The_Green_Hornet

Use them to make your own paper.

How to make paper

Nick_C

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

The promotional blurb from the local MRF states that their machines can handle shredded paper so nothing to worry about there. Maybe your council is just being picky and/or you are simply worrying unnecessarily.

My local council sticks a contamination sticker on the bin and refuses to empty it if it contains visible shredded paper. Their mixed recycling goes to a MRF that is about 4/5 years old.

I have 9 years experience in the waste industry, and was involved in commissioning a brand new, state of the art, MRF last year. Shredded paper caused problems! Because we wanted to do everything possible to encourage people to recycle, we accepted shredded paper and dealt with the problems.

want_to_save wrote: »

flushing down the loo cant be good for the system

I don't flush shredded paper down the loo, but I do get a couple of paper credit card statements each month. I cut out all references to my name and account numbers, then chop them into tiny pieces with a pair of scissors. I can't see small amounts of confetti sized paper causing a problem!