How Is Tissue Wrapping Paper Recycled?

Tissue paper is popular as a gift bag insert and as wrapping paper.

After Christmas or a birthday party there are bound to be piles of tissue paper on the floor. Do you throw it all away? Tissue wrapping paper can form a glut in the landfill after major celebrations. These fibers are used once and thrown away, hence the interest in recycling them. While tissue paper contains weak fibers that are not ideal for recycling, it is recyclable in some places. When it is added to stronger fibers, tissue paper becomes a part of new recycled paper products.

Identifying the Tissue Paper

If recycling is permitted, separate tissue paper from other household papers.

Tissue paper is thin, transluscent paper that is often used inside gift bags. It is also used to cushion and protect delicate objects when they are inside a box. Several layers of tissue paper are commonly used to wrap a gift. When only a single sheet of tissue paper is used, the gift inside is usually visible.

Recycling the Tissue Paper

In some states, you can recycle wrapping paper but not tissue paper.

Many items are recyclable, but some items are hard to reprocess or costly to recycle. Wrapping paper and tissue paper are two of these difficult items. They do not contain a lot of paper fiber, so they are not always recycled. To recycle tissue paper, separate tissue paper from wrapping paper and regular household paper. Determine which ones are recyclable in your area.

Remove tape, bows, and other contaminants from tissue paper that will be recycled.

Paper at the Recycling Center

At the recycling center, contaminants like clips are removed and papers are baled

When tissue paper goes to the recycling center, it is sorted for contaminants and packed into bales of paper. Each bale is graded, and the tissue paper will become part of a bale of lower-quality paper. These bales form the raw materials for future recycled paper. The bales are sent to a paper recycling facility.

Tissue Paper Becomes Pulp Again

Screens remove tape from the tissue paper.

At the paper mill, machines chop the tissue paper into pieces and then heat it with water until it turns into a pulp. The pulp goes through a screen that removes pieces of tape and bows that you forgot to remove from your recycling material. Moving the pulp around in a large vat allows items like staples to sink to the bottom.

Bleaching Tissue Paper Fibers

The paper fibers are treated with bleach to make them turn white.

Tissue paper is made in many different colors. To use these colored fibers again, they need to be bleached. First, the fibers are beaten and they swell up and separate into individual fibers. Then a peroxide or dioxide solution makes the fibers white once again. The bleached fibers can be added to recycled paper products.

Making Paper

To make durable paper, weak fibers mix with stronger fibers.

To make new paper, the tissue paper fibers and other paper fibers are mixed with water until they become very loose. Machines place the pulp mixture onto a screen, to remove the water. Other machines flatten it and dry the mixture until it becomes paper.

Every time paper is recycled, it loses fiber length and this makes the fibers weaker. To make a more durable paper product, paper mills mix thin and higher-quality fibers and may also add some new fiber to create a durable recycled paper product.

Alternatives to Tissue Paper Recycling

Reuse tissue paper before you try to recycle it.

Tissue paper is not ideal for recycling and is not accepted in many areas. If at all possible, try to reuse your tissue paper for wrapping gifts. Get children to decorate the gift wrap if there are small tears. You can also use tissue paper for stuffing items that will not get wet, shred it to add to Easter baskets, and use it to hide gifts that are inside boxes and bags. Reusing paper is even more environmentally effective than recycling it.

References

• Trystan L Bass: Recycle Wrap or Not?
• Paper Recycling: Exposing the Myths
• Earth Answers: How is Paper Recycled?