Our goal is to get
one million tons of
paper out of the trash!
Will you join the campaign and do everything you can to help us meet this ambitious goal?

Earth
Recycling paper reduces
global warming!

Paper
It’s not just newspapers anymore!

WHERE does recycling go?

Recycled paper starts in the bin in your home or office.

#1 Picked-up at curb or transfer station

From your home, it is picked up at the curb by the recycling truck or dropped off at the local transfer station (depending upon how your community deals with its waste). Your office has a contract for pick-up with a private company.

#2 Recycled paper gets sorted at materials recovery facility

From the recycling truck or transfer station, the paper makes its way to a materials recovery facility where it is sorted and processed along with other recyclables, such as cans and bottles. There are approximately one dozen materials recovery facilities in Massachusetts. The largest facility is in Springfield where recyclables from 70 Western Massachusetts communities are processed.

The paper goes through a variety of high tech sorting machines and conveyor belts to separate more valuable forms of paper, such as cardboard, and to remove items such as plastic bags or bottles.

# 3 Recycled paper gets sold to paper mills

Recycled paper then gets packaged into big bails that are sold and shipped to paper mills, some that are located overseas.

Much of the paper that is recycled by Massachusetts communities goes to the Newark Paperboard Mill in Haverhill or Fitchburg, where it is finds new life as cereal, cracker and pizza boxes or book covers – even as the cover of the final Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

#4 Recycled paper finds new life

At the Newark Paper Mill, recycled paper is combined with water to make a “paper soup.” Items such as paper clips, staples and plastic bands float to the top and are strained out.

The mixture goes through a drying process to remove the water and eventually becomes huge roles of “paperboard” sent to companies which make boxes out of this material.

The Newark Paperboard Mill in Haverhill was established in 1902 and is part of the grand history of paper mills in Massachusetts.

For more information about what happens to recycled materials in Massachusetts – all kinds, not just paper – download this document produced by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.