Paper Recycling Collection

Paper Waste Recycling sack or wheelie bin collection from your business, available 7 days a week.

Paper recycling collection for your business

About 5 million tonnes of paper end up in landfill in the UK each year. While recent years’ digitisation is reducing the amount of paper offices produce, we still use incredible amounts of paper daily.

This includes items such as receipts, cards, and paperwork, that all fill the bin up eventually.

Discover what paper recycling service is right for your business

Sack Collections

Kerbside sack collections from outside your business. Order sacks online, we'll deliver in 1-3 working days. Collections start on the first day of your selected schedule. Order more sacks from your online portal.

from

£1.00*

Wheelie Bin Collections

Scheduled bin lifts. Pick your preferred bin size and collection days and times. We’ll deliver bin(s) on requested start date, timing all future collections in accordance with your chosen schedule.

from

£8.13*

How does pricing for paper recycling collection work?

Sack collections:

The price shown for our paper recycling sack service is per sack (+VAT). Sacks are sold in quantities of 50 on a pay-as-you-go basis with no contract required.

The upfront cost includes the cost of collection and recycling of materials, documentation and service extras, with no hidden costs.

Wheelie bin collections:

The price shown for paper recycling wheelie bin services is for the first week of collections (+VAT). The weekly price of collections is based on your schedule and the number of bin lifts.

We then invoice this to your account plus a small bin rental fee at the end of each month. Wheelie bin collections are ongoing unless you cancel them, but there is no contract required.

What can go in Paper Recycling bins and sacks?

White & coloured office paper

Waste paper

Envelopes

Please keep out Paper Recycling bins and sacks

Food packaging

Cardboard

Newspaper & magazines

Tissues & kitchen roll

Need to display instructions?

Download poster

How is paper recycled?

We collect your paper waste in bins or sacks and take it to our Materials Recovery Facility for sorting to make sure only recyclable paper products are baled up. This step is important as cards or newspapers need to be separated into different recycling streams.

The remaining paper is sent to our recycling partner where it will be washed and treated with chemicals to create a pulp. The pulp is cleaned of any contaminants (such as staples), and the ink is removed via a chemical process. It is then pressed, dried and turned into rolls of recycled paper (these rolls can be up to 50 miles long – that’s a lot of recycled paper!).

Why set up a Paper Recycling collection with First Mile?

Easy switch from your current business waste provider

Flexible business waste and recycling collections up to 3 times a day, 7 days a week

Amazing support available 24/7/365 from our specialist commercial waste collection team

Service Extras, like compliance certificates, weighing and data, and posters

View all benefits

Paper Recycling FAQs

What is Paper Waste?

Paper waste counts as any recyclable paper: letters, notebook pages, sheets, the contents of a filing cabinet and paper folders are all welcome in the bin.

Paper is made up of thousands of fibres holding the sheets together, which can be loosened and restructured with water and chemicals to create fresh sheets.

This mimics the original method of creating paper with pulp, water and a sieve - just with a modern touch!

How is Paper Waste recycled?

Once your bins or sacks have been collected by First Mile, our team will drive them out to our Materials Recovery Facility where the waste will be separated depending on its type and source. This step is important as our zero-landfill policy requires that every recyclable ends up in the right place!

Finally, your paper will make its way to one of our hand-selected partners, where it will be treated with water and chemicals, separated and reformed into fresh sheets of recycled paper before heading back into the world!

Do you offer Paper Recycling Service near me?

We offer commercial paper recycling in the London and Birmingham areas around our major plants.

We also cover other areas in the UK - just put in your postcode to check! Our eco-friendly, no-contract services cover a wide range of postcodes around the country, helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

Who needs Paper Waste Management?

If your business uses paper for anything, the chances are that you could benefit from sustainable paper waste disposal - and so could the planet! Schools, offices, law firms, banks and hospitals are all large producers of paper. If you find yourself producing a lot of paper waste, it’s worth looking into getting it recycled.

How much does commercial paper recycling help the environment?

Recycling one tonne of paper saves around 30,000 litres of water and between 3000 and 4000 kWh of electricity.

That’s enough to keep the average three-bedroom house going for a whole year!

Is paper recycling environmentally friendly?

While the recycling process does use some chemicals, care is taken to keep them in a closed-loop system. The process is also far more eco-friendly than producing fresh paper - all for the same result.

What happens to paper in landfill?

It decomposes! While paper isn’t something that tends to last in landfills, not recycling it increases the need for fresh, new paper which requires more trees, more powered equipment to cut them, and more fuel to power the equipment.

While paper is far from the most dangerous thing to end up in a landfill, it’s better for the environment to keep materials in the loop for as long as they’re useable.

Paper Recycling Collection