Things you have never thought of

[Pepper Pig]

Long story but one of the girls I went out to lunch with today is an accountant. She is much sought after and obviously knows her stuff (a house in Northwood, a villa in Provence and an apartment in Dubai). We were moaning about getting rid of old paperwork and she looked at us as if we were stupid. (we probably are). She says that when she has finished with documents she doesn't shred or chop them up but she soaks them in water (she waits until she's got a lot). They then turn into a sort of papier maché pulp which she squashes up, dries out and puts in the recylcing. No chance of anyone being able to resurrect the originals.

I will try it. Well, if I ever get round to it I might.

[liketocook]

Been doing that for years PP, saves a load of hassle and compacts the stuff nicely. It was a tip on something I watched or read. If you makes balls/rolls of the soaked paper before drying them they make great firelighters.

[Earthmaiden]

Not heard of that before!

[Pepper Pig]

Never ever occurred to me! I must lead a very sheltered life.

[liketocook]

I think I may have mentioned it before on the Wildies board. I do a lot of voluntary admin and have done since 2001, before lots of record keeping became digital you needed to do a paperwork cull for lots stuff once the "have to keep for" period expired and I "think" it might have been a tip from HMRC or other such organisation. Probably where your friend got the idea from or via her networks.

[Stokey Sue]

That sounds far more hassle than shredding as you go to me - I really can’t see that faffing around with dripping paper and then waiting for it to dry out is a better way of doing it, though obviously it is doable as LTC is doing it!

Also are we sure they are happy to have it in the recycling?

I have a fairly substantial shredder that cost surprisingly little at Argos, and I think I’ll stick with it.

I know that it is possible to reconstruct shredded documents, but if you mix up a good selection, then it’s pretty hard. Someone would have to be rather determined.

[Suelle]

That sounds far more hassle than shredding as you go to me - I really can’t see that faffing around with dripping paper and then waiting for it to dry out is a better way of doing it, though obviously it is doable as LTC is doing it!

That was my first thought!

My shredded paper goes into my compost heap, although I've never dealt with huge quantities of paperwork - that might be a different matter.

[scullion]

Anything with names and addresses on gets that bit torn off and put in the worm bin or compost bin. the rest gets put in the recycling.
The labels on packages gets wetted and rubbed to obliterate the address.
Someone I used to know would make papier-mâché pellets out of all paper, especially egg boxes (already papier-mâché) and save them for making things with the children in her art classes. as long as they’re not squeezed too tightly they rehydrate quite quickly.

[Stokey Sue]

I would compost is I could - one tip I heard was to put the shreds of anything really sensitive in the general waste not the recycling together with something really messy like used car litter, as that’s not then recoverable

[Suffs]

Long story but one of the girls I went out to lunch with today is an accountant. She is much sought after and obviously knows her stuff (a house in Northwood, a villa in Provence and an apartment in Dubai). We were moaning about getting rid of old paperwork and she looked at us as if we were stupid. (we probably are). She says that when she has finished with documents she doesn't shred or chop them up but she soaks them in water (she waits until she's got a lot). They then turn into a sort of papier maché pulp which she squashes up, dries out and puts in the recylcing. No chance of anyone being able to resurrect the originals.

I will try it. Well, if I ever get round to it I might.

Next door do similar ... but they don't put it in recycling ... they compress it into blocks in a 'brick former' then dry the blocks on shelves in the greenhouse and burn the blocks on their log burner ... apparently they burn for some time and throw out a fair bit of heat.

[liketocook]

Yes it's probably only worth doing if you either have a decent amount or very little. Although a lot of my voluntary admin is digital there's still a fair bit that has to be kept manually relating to payroll so I tend to do a bit batch once a year. Once squeezed it doesn't take long to dry and I've never had any problems recycling it. I've limited space for a shredder so this works for me. I can see it would make great heat logs as the firelighters are brilliant. On a day to day basis I take sensitive info off stuff and recycle the rest. The sensitive info either gets added to firstarting bag for the stove in colder months or once I have a bagful soaked, squeezed into balls, dried and either recycled or kept as kindling.

[northleedsbhoy]

Shredded paper shouldn’t really be recycled. I keep a bin bag and when there’s enough in it I put it out with the general waste. It’s a shame that some councils can’t recycle it but…heyho

https://londonrecycles.co.uk/a-to-z/shr ... d%20issues.

Cheers
NLB

[Earthmaiden]

We are allowed to put shredded paper into the recycling if it is contained within a paper bag. In the days when I used a go to the USA a couple of times a year I used to bring home paper sacks from supermarkets for that purpose. Now I get them from Morrisons if required but don't have nearly so much to shred since doing much of my 'paperwork' online.

[Stokey Sue]

Someone told me if you have a lot, put it in a recycle sack with nothing else, then it can easily be included or rejected by the recycling plant without clogging up the system, if they don't deal with it at that facility.

I think the same caveats might apply to the papier maché ?

[Badger's Mate]

We also tear off names and addresses for compost, the rest of the page goes to recycling. Sensitive information is shredded and the shredded paper is used in compost. However, some paper is treated or composite, leaving plastic tagliatelle to pick out of the heap at a later date

[Suffs]

Some folk use shredded paper for stable bedding … I know of folk who have an arrangement where they deliver their shredded paper to the stables and later on they get it back as stable manure for their garden.

[liketocook]

Someone told me if you have a lot, put it in a recycle sack with nothing else, then it can easily be included or rejected by the recycling plant without clogging up the system, if they don't deal with it at that facility.

I think the same caveats might apply to the papier maché ?

Must depend on the area Sue, I enquired and was told it was fine as they pretty much process paper waste in the same way and it ends up in the fuel chain that heats and neutralises food and garden waste. I suppose it depends on how recycling is collected (we have separate wheelie bins not sacks), if it's one bin/bag/box for all recyclable waste, yes could definitely be an issue but if paper is collected separately it should be okay as long as it dry. I was told to make sure it was completely dry and if not, and small quantities, to add to the main food caddy. Our "food" collection allows for things like kitchen roll soiled with food stuff and greasy/food spoiled cardboard from takeaways etc. No wonder recycling is a mess in UK, every area has it's own rules, if ever there was a call for a standard approach .....

[Stokey Sue]

LTC,Yes, that’s the difference I think, - our paper is supposed to go to paper mills for recycling, if only into egg boxes, but for that they have to separate it out from the rest of the mixed recycling; it all goes into one sack. Anything that’s rejected for recycling goes to incineration, which is controversial.

It’s so silly that we can’t have consistent and effective recycling

[liketocook]

Isn't it just, while my area's waste collection /disposal policies are (very) far from ideal they do seem to be better than others nearby. Why neighbouring councils or sensible geographic areas can't have a consistent approach never fails to dismay me. If I was to move 5 miles it would be a completely different approach!!

[northleedsbhoy]

I live in a flat and general waste is put in bags and into a dumpster. There are bins for recycling and paper goes in the ‘blue bag’. I’m not sure what Stafford Council policy is on shredded paper but I don’t generate much anyway so I just put it into sack and put it in the dumpster.

Cheers
NLB