Renfrewshire Council

Newspapers, magazines, advertising leaflets, small brochures, envelopes (without windows) and paper

These are widely collected by most councils and can be put in your recycling bin unless your council has told you otherwise.

Window envelopes

Many councils cannot accept these unless the 'window' has been removed from the envelope.

Shredded paper 

Often this is not accepted as the small fibres can jam the machinery at the recycling facility; although some councils will accept shredded paper if it's put inside an empty cereal box for example. Before you recycle shredded paper, check with your local council.

Junk mail

These items can be put in your recycling bin unless your council has told you otherwise. If you would like to reduce the amount of mail you receive, the Mailing Preference Service gives advice on how you can do this. 

Telephone directories

These are collected by most councils and can be put in your recycling bin unless your council has advised otherwise. In areas where you cannot recycle telephone directories at home, they are usually accepted at your local household waste recycling centre.  To save paper you can cancel your telephone directory home delivery as follows:

• Yellow Pages, call Freephone 0800 671 444
• Thomsons Local Directory, call 01252 390990

Catalogues

Some catalogues can be recycled but this does vary from area to area.  It also depends on the type of catalogue. Check with your local council to see if you can pop your old catalogues in your local recycling collection scheme.

Wrapping paper

Some councils will accept plain wrapping paper (made from paper) if it does not have glitter, sticky tape or other embellishments on it. However, some wrapping 'paper' is not made from paper at all - it is a type of plastic and cannot be recycled.  Before recycling wrapping paper, please make sure your council will accept it.

Wallpaper

This is not recyclable and should be thrown away in your rubbish bin. Whether stripped from walls or leftover from a wallpapering project, the coatings that have been applied to the wallpaper make it unsuitable for recycling. These coatings include:

• Vinyl coatings, applied to make wallpaper more resistant to water and other damage
• Textured effects may use polystyrene or plastic based materials
• Paint

Find your nearest recycling centre on the Renfrewshire Council website