A common question we get is whether shredded paper is recyclable. The answer is an absolute YES. We recycle all the paper we shred.  We even recycle the hard drives after they are shredded.

There is a lot of misinformation out there that shredded paper can’t be recycled because it cuts the fiber. This is simply twenty year old rubbish. Paper mills looked into this very question and found the fiber degradation to be negligible.   They consider the quality to be the same as any other standard office paper.

So why do some recycling companies say that it isn’t? That is because they have purchased equipment that can’t handle it. Instead of setting up a process for shredded paper they make up excuses. The result is that tons of paper that should be recycled is sent to the landfill.

If you have ever been to “green” Boulder Colorado you will find the irony of their recycling center convincing more people to use the landfill instead of recycling.