Paper Recycling
Golden K’er John Slaughter is packing another load of paper for the Ames Golden K paper recycling project to the collection trailer at CENEX, 919 East Lincoln Way, Ames. Having started in the fall of 2012, we are now filling a fresh trailer about every four weeks. The paper is sold to a recycler and the proceeds go to the financial support of area agencies working with children. The recycler shreds the paper, adds a fire retardant, and converts the shreds into insulation for homes and businesses.
Click HERE to see the collections and income history.
Would you like to help?
Anyone can contribute paper. We’d love for you to help us help others!
Paper such as newspapers, magazines, soft-backed books, letters, and advertising, and are just what we’re looking for. Hard-backed books are only accepted if you tear off the cover before submission. Dry materials only, please. NOTE: Pizza boxes are NOT accepted, nor other paper materials that are dirty, oil-stained, or food-contaminated. Cardboard is not accepted, other than to use a box to bring all your paper.
Here are ways you can contribute:
- Contact any Golden K member.
- Carry your gatherings to the collection site in the trailer at CENEX, 919 E Lincoln Way, Ames. Your bringing the paper is very helpful to us. We keep the trailer open 24 hours a day for everyone’s convenience. If the trailer is locked, that means it is full, and a new trailer has been requested. New trailers are normally delivered in a few days after request.
- Submit a comment below. We will get back to you.
Hi do we need to separate white bond from newspaper from yardstock weight advertising paper? thanks!
Hi, Jeri. Thank you for participating! No, you do not need to separate bond from cardstock. All the paper goes into a massive grinder/shredder when processed, and it can the mixture of weights of paper.
Is it only correlated cardboard that is not allowed?
What about the thinner cardboard like Kleenex boxes? Or a small box that my paperclips came in? Are junk mail postcards OK?
Thanks, Valerie
The cardboard limitation includes packaging as well as corrugated cardboard. Postcards and stiff paper are okay. Think of this way: if it’s made to be written on, it’s fine! Thanks for supporting this project, Valerie.
I was very sorry to learn of the fire that destroyed the paper-collection trailer. What are the future plans for this program in Ames?
I did read that another paper recycling trailer is available in Nevada.
Good day to all of you,
Was checking in today to see if there is any update on the paper trailer that caught fire. I made another drive by yesterday and see the damaged trailer. Again, sorry to have this happen to your cause and I’ll continue to keep collecting the paper to someday bring out to the new trailer.
Keep up your good work,
Steve
Are you still collecting cardboard? Thick cardboard is from the packaging of a garage storage locker.
Thanks,
Shelly
Hello, Shelly. Thank you for your support for our project and your question. No, we can NO LONGER accept cardboard. I wish we could, but the product made from our recycled paper is insulation for houses and farm buildings, and cardboard degrades the quality of the insulation. Paper is great, cardboard is not.
Thanks,
Joe T
Do i need to remove staples and tape from the paper to recycle? how about glue?
Bea,
Thanks for supporting and working with our project!
You are right to be concerned about extraneous matter on the paper. It can be a problem. However, don’t be concerned about a few staples, but try not to send a large quantity. As to the glue, again a little bit is not an issue, but a large spill on a few sheets is better sent to city waste collections. An example: paperback books are great for recycyling, even though bound with a glued binder. The pages themselves are still clean.
Thanks,
Joe
How secure is the trailer? I have some papers with personal information on them.
Wendy,
As to security in the trailer, there is intentionally very little. The public can deposit papers anytime, and therefore the door is usually open.
For myself, I shred all private materials and collect the shards in a large plastic trash bag. When the bag is full, I take the whole bag to the trailer and dump the shrads into the paper pile, and then remove the plastic bag from the premises. We do not recommend depositing any secure items unshredded.
Thanks for suppoting our project!
Joe
Do the newspapers need to be bound somehow? Or shall I just drop them in stacks in the trailer?
Karen,
Thank you for your support of our project! Papers do Not need to be bound. You can add them to the ever growing pile in the trailer, or do as I do and bring them in paper grocery sacks. Some people bring them in boxes– they dump the boxes behind the ‘front edge barrier’ and then discard the boxes. (No cardboard, remember? 🙂
Thanks,
Joe