Paper
Step by step paper recycling projects
Decoupage plastic mannequin
I have taken a old plastic manequinn doll and decoupaged it to creat a lamp.
Upcycled Egg Box Flowers
Upcycle your old egg boxes and egg trays and create a beautiful arrangement of flowers that will never droop!
Upcycled Wallpaper Hatbox
This is a fantastic project to recycle and upcycle your old CDs, brown paper card and wallpaper sample books all in one go!
Handmade paper
Recycle old paper, and turn it into beautiful paper for card making. A fantastic fun craft for kids!
Articles on paper recycling
Book Lamp
So many books are thrown away as they have virtually no resale value, yet with a few folds, all your old, worthless books can be turned into beautiful decorations and lampshades.
Paper Mache Heart
Papier mache is terrific for all ages, young kids love getting their hands involved, perfect for sensory development! And a great lesson on recycling egg boxes!
Paper Beads
What a great way to recycle old magazines, free up some clutter and make beautiful jewellery for yourself or your friends!
Paper Recycling
There are many items that are recyclable, with the most common being newspaper, cardboard, glass, tin cans, aluminium, plastic and yes, motor oil. I will be explaining the process of recycling each of the afore-mentioned individually on a weekly basis. Let’s start with what is black and white and read all over…
Newspaper
You, the consumer, begin the process when you set aside your newspaper from the rest of your household rubbish, placing it in a recycle bin or participating in a paper drive for your children’s school. Whatever method you choose, the paper is collected by a recycling agent at some point who then places your paper along with paper from other households and sells it to a paper dealer. Because of the immense volume, this guy usually operates out of a warehouse somewhere. The paper dealer then sells the paper he’s collected to a user, which is where the recycling process - manufacturing a new product from a used one - begins in earnest.
Old newspaper is a very important part of the paper recycling process. Paper mills are very concerned about the cleanliness, type of paper and quantity they purchase so they generally issue purchase contracts to agents as opposed to buying drips and drabs from the public. These contracts could be monthly or ongoing.
Once at the mill, the old ink is separated from the newspaper fibres through a chemical washing process known as de-inking. Screens then remove remaining contaminants like bits of tape or dirt. The pulp that remains is then bleached and mixed with additional pulp from wood chips for strengthening. The resultant watery mixture is then poured onto a wire - a continuously moving belt screen which enables excess moisture to drain through. Once the mixture has reached the end of the wire, it is solid enough to be lifted off and fed through steam-heated rollers, which further dry it and flatten it into a continuous sheet of paper. Close to one kilometre of finished newsprint can be produced by this machine per minute! The newsprint is then trimmed, rolled and sent out to printing plants to be printed with the next day’s news.
Not all old newspaper is recycled back into its original form though. Pulp companies utilize it for other projects too, such as moulding it into flower pots, blown-in cellular insulation and other specialty items. Paper brokers may also sell old newspaper to overseas agents where it often ends up as wrapping paper. In all, newspaper is quite a valuable commodity … just ask the owner of the fish ‘n’ chip shop on the corner!
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