Paper & cardboard
Bin: Blue containerBecomes paper again: printing paper, ring binders and tissue paper.
Clean, dry paper and cardboard is one of the most valuable raw materials you throw away. The fibres can be reused over and over — as long as they stay free of grease, food and drink.
This belongs in it
- Printing paper, notebooks and notepads
- Envelopes (window envelopes too)
- Newspapers, magazines and flyers
- Cardboard boxes — flattened
- Paper bags and egg cartons
- Toilet roll tubes
This does not belong in it
- Coffee cups (separate stream)
- Paper towels and tissues
- Greasy or wet pizza boxes
- Plastic-coated or laminated paper
- Confidential documents with personal data
- Wallpaper, photos and thermal receipt paper
What happens to it?
- 1. Collection on site
The wheelie bin or press container on site is emptied on fixed days.
- 2. To the processing site
At the processing site the load is checked, sorted for contamination and baled.
- 3. Paper mill
The bales go to the paper mill, where the paper is dissolved into pulp, de-inked and screened.
- 4. New paper
The pulp becomes new reels of paper and board — which come back on site as products.
Where is it processed?
Sorted and baled at the processing site, then processed at a paper mill. Which processor that is differs per location and per load.
This is what it becomes
Good to know
Rules and legislation
Paper and cardboard must be kept separate from residual waste. This follows from the Dutch Environmental Activities Decree (Bal, article 3.39) and the Circular Materials Plan (CMP), which replaced the previous national waste plan on 30 December 2025. For waste arising only incidentally, the duty starts at 1,000 litres.
Sources
The figures and rules on this page were checked against the following sources.
- Gescheiden houden van bedrijfsafval en gevaarlijk afvalRijkswaterstaat — Circulair Materialenplan
- Circulair Materialenplan treedt 30 december 2025 in werkingInformatiepunt Leefomgeving
- Nederland blijft koploper papierrecycling met hoge percentagesPapier & Karton / PRN
- Papier en karton nóg duurzamer: 25 keer recyclen kan!Papier & Karton — onderzoek TU Graz (2021)
Checked on 18 August 2026