Recycle This Pittsburgh

Wrapping Paper

About These Items

Many kinds of wrapping paper are accepted by Pittsburgh’s curbside recycling program, however there are a few quick tests you should do to make sure it’s appropriate for recycling: First scrunch the paper up into a ball. If it keeps the ball shape when you let go, it’s probably okay for recycling. You can also try tearing the paper- if you see a stretchy plastic film along the edges of the tear, don’t put into curbside recycling, but if the tear edge looks fibrous, it’s probably good for recycling.

Remove ribbons, bows, and other accessories. Also, don’t include tissue paper, which is too thin and poor quality to include in recycling.

While mixed papers like most wrapping papers are accepted curbside, it can be more valuable to the city if dropped off at one of the city’s various drop-off locations. (see below)

Look for Wrapping Paper made from Recycled Paper.

One of the best ways to ensure your wrapping paper is recyclable, and to support the overall recycling market, is to look for wrapping paper made from post-consumer paper.

Consider Reusable Wrappings

Single-use wrapping paper is commonly used to wrap presents but other materials can be more easily reused. Consider using a gift bag and tissue paper, which can then be saved and reused by you or your gift recipient. Or you could look to traditions like Japanese furoshiki, which uses fabrics to wrap gifts.

Drop off to increase value.

While the curbside pickup recycling is single-stream (meaning, all recyclables are combined together), starting in summer 2019 the city’s drop-off centers are collecting some items in a separate pick-up and send to a separate facility for sorting and recycling. This separation reduces contamination of recyclables and increases their value. Mixed paper, including recyclable wrapping paper, is one of these items now being sent (at least some of the time) to a separate facility. So if you want your mixed paper items to have the best chance of being recycled and creating the most value, consider dropping off your mixed paper at one of these drop-off locations into the city’s mixed paper dumpsters. (Note that another of these separated items is shredded paper.)

When you drop off, the items are accepted in plastic bags. However, these bags will most likely be cut open and then discarded at the sorting facility, so consider using one of your larger paper bags for mixed paper (because it can also be recycled as mixed paper) or dumping your mixed paper loose into the dumpster.