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Larry West

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By Larry West, About.com Guide to Environmental Issues

Why and How to Recycle Phonebooks

Monday March 19, 2007
Phonebook papers are 100 percent recyclable and are used primarily to—you guessed it—make new phonebooks! Old phonebooks are also sometimes recycled into building materials and products you use in your home. However, many recyclers won’t accept telephone books because the fibers used to make the books’ lightweight pages are too short to be reformulated into new paper. In fact, mixing old phonebooks in with other waste paper can even contaminate the batch, hindering the recyclability of the other paper fibers. Learn the benefits of recycling phonebooks, and get tips for reusing old phonebooks if your local recycler won't take them.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Comments

February 10, 2008 at 2:45 pm
(1) A. F. says:

Sage, you’re an idiot. Recycling anything possible helps.

April 6, 2008 at 7:54 pm
(2) Philip says:

http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org will allow you to “opt out” from getting a telephone book for you house or business. http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is a free site. Just sign up and they will contact the publisher to stop the delivery of unwanted books.

September 29, 2008 at 12:44 am
(3) Bruce says:

This article tells us NOTHING about HOW or WHERE to recycle phone books. My local government doesn’t know, and my phone company doesn’t know. So now what do I do with the 20 or so books I have now, taking up space in my already-crowded apartment?

October 20, 2008 at 12:54 pm
(4) Dayna says:

you can call 1-800-953-4400 to find a local place to recycle your phone books.

July 15, 2009 at 12:24 pm
(5) Katrina says:

Go to http://www.earth911.org/ and put in phonebooks and your zip code and it will tell you where to recycle them. Spread the word…

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