Dispose of adhesive tape: carton residues, plastic tape and local sorting instructions

After unpacking, adhesive tape, carrier rollers and glued cartons often remain behind. These components do not belong automatically in the same collection. Material, use and condition are crucial. Check the local disposal instructions instead of deriving the sorting rules for a tape from its color alone or from the label paper.

View tape and packaging separately

A shipping carton is a different type of waste than a bundle of removed tape. Therefore, first look at what is actually to be disposed of. If a clean packaging is available from paper or cardboard, remove larger, easily detachable foreign materials. Fold the carton apart so that the contents of a collection can be checked better and the packaging takes up less space.

You don’t have to scrape off every little rest with a tool. If the remaining attachments are acceptable for the local paper collection, please refer to the instructions of the disposal carrier. Highly polluted or coated materials can be treated differently than clean cardboard. A single flat-rate recommendation for all glued cartons would therefore be unreliable.

Note the material and origin of the tape

Packing tapes may have a plastic or paper carrier. In addition, adhesives and in some versions reinforcements or coatings are added. Therefore, the term paper adhesive tape does not alone indicate that a striped strip belongs in every municipality in the waste paper. A reference to biodegradability is also not a general release for the biotonne.

In addition, distinguish between used packaging and other adhesive tape, for example from renovation or assembly work. Contamination with paint, building materials or other residues may change the classification. In case of a request to the disposal carrier, specify as precisely as possible which belt and which residues are present. Thus, the information can be related to the actual waste.

Local wasteABC instead of using general color rules

The Umweltbundesamt recommends municipal waste management for special disposal issues. Many cities or districts offer wasteABC ==References== Look there for adhesive tape, packaging foil, paper packaging or the concrete material. Collecting systems and acceptance conditions may also differ locally.

If the assignment is not clear, ask for it before you enter larger quantities in a collection. Insert loose tape remnants, the carrier roll and the actual packaging separately into the test. A cardboard roll and a plastic roll may need different paths; the structure is not the same for all rolls.

Avoid unnecessary residues even when packing

Choose a carton whose flaps can be closed without deformation and cut tape specifically. Excessive layers make unpacking and later material separation more difficult. Keep packing tapes clean to keep them usable for their intended purpose. In the case of new packaging solutions, technical suitability and comprehensible disposal instructions should be examined together.

Edited for Germany edited after NEOPAK: Dispose of adhesive tape.