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➜See all FAQs1
➜General FAQs1
So my question….how do you manage to make used white paper and old used white envelopes into something? How are they so different from all other paper that they need to be separated out? It has boggled my mind for so long so I decided to finally ask. Thanks so much! Sue R
Hi Sue - thanks for the great question. We do not make white paper into things, but the FNSB's downstream processor, Smurfitt Westrock does. The reason that white (vs other colored paper) is "different" is that the fibers have not yet been dyed, so white paper can become white again, while dyed fibers cannot. For this reason, the borough is able to recover more value for white paper than mixed, and so we separate and bale the white paper separately. This is very similar to the difference between colored and "natural" (translucent uncolored) HDPE #2 plastic. You can make colored from natural HDPE, but you cannot make natural from colored. Similarly, the FNSB receives more per ton for natural than colored #2's so we separate those as well. It gets pretty confusing, but success in recycling truly comes down to sorting. At some point even otherwise recyclable material is considered a contaminant if it is in with the wrong thing.
➜Material FAQs1
➜Paper (white / office)1
So my question….how do you manage to make used white paper and old used white envelopes into something? How are they so different from all other paper that they need to be separated out? It has boggled my mind for so long so I decided to finally ask. Thanks so much! Sue R
Hi Sue - thanks for the great question. We do not make white paper into things, but the FNSB's downstream processor, Smurfitt Westrock does. The reason that white (vs other colored paper) is "different" is that the fibers have not yet been dyed, so white paper can become white again, while dyed fibers cannot. For this reason, the borough is able to recover more value for white paper than mixed, and so we separate and bale the white paper separately. This is very similar to the difference between colored and "natural" (translucent uncolored) HDPE #2 plastic. You can make colored from natural HDPE, but you cannot make natural from colored. Similarly, the FNSB receives more per ton for natural than colored #2's so we separate those as well. It gets pretty confusing, but success in recycling truly comes down to sorting. At some point even otherwise recyclable material is considered a contaminant if it is in with the wrong thing.
➜Location FAQs1
➜FNSB Central Recycling Facility (CRF)1
So my question….how do you manage to make used white paper and old used white envelopes into something? How are they so different from all other paper that they need to be separated out? It has boggled my mind for so long so I decided to finally ask. Thanks so much! Sue R
Hi Sue - thanks for the great question. We do not make white paper into things, but the FNSB's downstream processor, Smurfitt Westrock does. The reason that white (vs other colored paper) is "different" is that the fibers have not yet been dyed, so white paper can become white again, while dyed fibers cannot. For this reason, the borough is able to recover more value for white paper than mixed, and so we separate and bale the white paper separately. This is very similar to the difference between colored and "natural" (translucent uncolored) HDPE #2 plastic. You can make colored from natural HDPE, but you cannot make natural from colored. Similarly, the FNSB receives more per ton for natural than colored #2's so we separate those as well. It gets pretty confusing, but success in recycling truly comes down to sorting. At some point even otherwise recyclable material is considered a contaminant if it is in with the wrong thing.