Can you recycle wrapping paper, ribbon, tissue paper? What to know for the holidays

Kimberly Cataudella

As Christmas Day comes to a close, so many of our homes will be filled with piles and piles of holiday wrapping scraps.

We’ll tell you how to properly dispose of all this waste — what can be recycled (and how), and which holiday wrapping materials need to be trashed.

Which holiday wrapping materials can I recycle?

Some recycling plants in the Triangle accept different materials than others. To find your nearest convenience center in Wake County and its hours of operation, visit wake.gov. For Durham County, visit dconc.gov.

“We do encourage people to reuse as much as they can before recycling, and to recognize our centers get very busy right after Christmas,” Bianca Howard, Wake County Solid Waste’s outreach and marketing supervisor, previously told The N&O.

Another tip from Howard: “Break down your cardboard and prepare all your materials ahead of time.”

Here’s how you can dispose of holiday gift wrapping materials in Raleigh and Durham:

Wrapping paper + tubes

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: Yes, when free of glitter, plastic and foil. The city recommends trying “the scrunch test”: “If you can scrunch wrapping paper into a ball and it stays together, it can be recycled. If it does not hold, it must be thrown in the garbage.”

• Wake County Convenience Centers: Yes. Use “mixed recycling” for paper-based wrapping paper. Foil wrapping paper must be trashed.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: Yes, for paper-based wrapping paper. Foil wrapping paper must be trashed.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: Yes, for paper-based wrapping paper. Foil wrapping paper must be trashed.

Gift boxes

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: Yes.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: Yes. Thin cardboard boxes can be recycled in “mixed recycling.” There’s a separate section for “corrugated cardboard,” which is thicker, three-layered cardboard typically used for mailing packages.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: Yes.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: Yes.

Gift bags

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: Yes. Ribbon and other non-paper handles must be removed. Glittery gift bags must be trashed.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: Yes. Remove ribbon and other non-paper handles and put these in “mixed recycling.” Glittery gift bags must be trashed.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: Yes. Ribbon and other non-paper handles must be removed. Glittery gift bags must be trashed.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: Yes. Ribbon and other non-paper handles must be removed. Glittery gift bags must be trashed.

Ribbon, bows

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: No.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: No.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: No.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: No.

Adhesive gift labels

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: No.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: No.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: No.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: No.

Tissue paper

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: No.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: No.

• Durham Curbside Recycling: No.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: No.

Holiday lights

• Raleigh Curbside Recycling: No.

• Wake County Convenience Centers: Yes. Put in “scrap metal.”

• Durham Curbside Recycling: No.

• Durham County Convenience Centers: Yes. Put in “scrap metal.”

Can you recycle plastic bags?

Plastic bags cannot be recycled through city or county services. They’re Wake Convenience Center’s No. 1 contaminant, Howard said.

If you bring your recycled materials in plastic bags, remember they need to be taken out of these bags before recycling.

But you can bring your plastic bags to a local grocery store’s plastic bag recycling center. Plastic film recycling company NexTrex says the following NC stores have plastic bag drop-off bins:

  • Food Lion

  • Harris Teeter

  • Harveys

  • Ingles

  • Kohl’s

  • Kroger

  • Lowes

  • Piggly Wiggly

  • Sprouts Farmers Market

What to recycle in Orange, Johnson, Chatham

Here’s where you can learn what can be recycled in other Triangle counties:

RDU On the Rise: Holiday traditions, Christmas shopping + shows, RTP’s 15-minute city

Which grocery stores in the Triangle are open on Christmas Eve + Day? Here’s a list.

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