You can recycle tape in many ways, including making it a beautiful piece of art.
Trade show displays made of tape can be incredibly attractive and time-saving. Because it’s available in a wide range of colors, you can color-code your displays to match your brand.
So, can you recycle tape? Sure you can! Tape can be recycled by shredding or cutting into strips or squares and feeding it into most “single-stream” recycling programs.
You can also donate it to arts organizations or schools that teach arts and crafts classes.
Some cities will even collect your used tape for you. So, you can recycle tape!
Can You Recycle Tape?
Contents
Yes, and the tape is recyclable in most places.
This makes recycling tape tough since it’s usually stored on a roll and rolled-up or wound tightly around other goods.
Because of the amount of energy required to separate materials before recycling, recyclers often reject items that aren’t separated or contained properly.
The same goes for fabric tape which comes in several different forms: duct tape, packing tape and masking tape.
If you take it to a recycling facility, it’s likely that it won’t be accepted if it’s not in manageable pieces.
Can Packing Tapes be Recycled?
In an effort to be environmentally conscious and environmentally safe, more and more people are recycling their home goods and even their packaging items. This is a positive thing and the positive impact of recycling is on the rise.
The answer is Yes! There are ways you can recycle packing tapes and even make a creative wall hanging or photo frame out of them!
This packaging tape is a water-activated, self-adhesive packing tape that is easy to handle and comes in a variety of widths and colors.
What Should You Do With The Tape?
You wouldn’t believe how much people save when they start their own recycling habits.
The durability and portability of the product make it an ideal solution for a variety of different applications including bundling and securing items in storage, packing and sealing boxes in shipping or for securing boxes during transit or in storage, and reinforcing pallet loads in warehouses and shipping departments.
We understand that many people like to get creative with unusual items and use packing tapes for home decor projects.
Unfortunately, it winds up in landfills or drains and never gets picked up for recycling.
If you want to do your part for the planet, this is a great way to recycle and reuse your packing tapes.
This tape in your garbage can is turned to big profits for companies that buy used boxes and other shipping materials.
What to Do With Packing Tape That Cannot Be Recycled
Polypropylene and PVC tapes are more difficult to recycle at this time, so what do you do with them.
They aren’t recyclable, but they aren’t as harmful to the environment as the other types of packing tape.
The tape normally breaks away spontaneously when the cardboard is recycled and if you recycle it, that’s perfectly OK.
Municipality Removal Requirements
To recycle corrugated cardboard boxes, many municipalities collect only cardboard boxes that are clean and unbroken.
Plastic tape often sticks to itself and other types of tape and damage cardboard in recycling facilities.
Use only cardboard that can be separated and recycled or broken down in the recycling process.
Too Much Packing Tape
When plastic packing tape is in large amounts, it can catch fire when it melts and sticks to itself and to other materials in landfills.
It’s better to peel polypropylene or PVC packing tape off carefully and not use too much of the sticky stuff.
Can Gummed Paper Tape Be Recycled?
It’s quite sticky, and although it’s not always as crisp or transparent as paper tape, it’s economical.
In any case, they’re likely to impose a surcharge for recycling plastic tape that sticks to itself and plastic in general is more difficult to recycle than paper.
If this winds up in a landfill, it’s going to break down very slowly over time and may take 10 years or longer to biodegrade entirely.
This is due to the way most plastics are manufactured and the additives that increase the stickiness and resistance to heat.
This means it will degrade in the soil and in the soil microorganisms – eventually into carbon dioxide and water, which are part of the natural cycle.
Also Read: Can You Recycle Apple Boxes?
Can You Recycle Masking Tape?
Sometimes, masking tape can be recycled, depending on the location of your recycling facility and the type of material it accepts.
After all, it’s made from paper too.
The glue isn’t going to be as strong on masking tape as it is on industrial-strength packing tape, so reuse it that way if possible.
Masking tape may usually be recycled if it was made from paper suitable for recycling in the first place.
However, you’ll need to check your local recycling facilities to see whether this applies to your masking tape or not.
Because many masking tapes are labeled “recyclable” or “made from recycled material”, and may bear the triangle symbol for paper or the paper and.
This means it can’t be recycled and should actually be disposed of properly in your household trashcan or municipal trash collection area.
Thankfully, these products are usually easy to identify because they’re often colored red or pink and marked “recyclable” with the symbol of an arrow through the waste bin with a triangle symbol on it.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to recycle tape, why not start today?
There are benefits to recycling tape that go beyond reducing your carbon footprint and helping the environment.
Recycling is an inexpensive method of reusing items that would otherwise be thrown away and is a great way to reduce waste and save your budget.
It’s also fun! If you’re not creative enough to come up with ideas for reusing old tapes, don’t worry!
There are lots of crafters and artists who use recycled tape to make amazing works of art and to display in their homes and businesses. So, recycling tape is a great choice!
