Responsible Paper Waste Recycling – Every Time
At Highlander Recycling, we specialise in paper and cardboard recycling for both commercial and residential customers across Scotland. With over 20 years in the industry, our knowledgeable team ensures that every step of the cardboard recycling process is compliant, efficient and environmentally responsible.
We collect a wide variety of paper waste recycling materials, including:
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Old Corrugated Containers (OCC)
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Newspapers (NEWS)
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Periodicals and Magazines (PAMS)
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Multi-grade printing waste
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Sorted office paper waste
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Solid board cuttings
And many other paper and cardboard grades
All collected waste is transported to our fully licensed East Kilbride Recycling Centre, where it is professionally sorted, graded and baled. These bales are then sold to certified paper mills for reprocessing into brand-new paper and cardboard packaging products. This closed-loop process ensures that valuable resources are reused instead of being sent to landfill or RDF, significantly reducing carbon emissions and supporting a circular economy.
As demand for sustainable packaging continues to grow, most companies now generate some form of paper or cardboard waste during their daily operations. Our tailored collection service – backed by a fleet of over 20 vehicles – offers maximum flexibility for your recycling needs, whether you're a small business or a large enterprise.
We operate daily cardboard recycling in Glasgow and other key areas across central Scotland. There’s no minimum quantity required, and we pride ourselves on offering competitive rates across all paper grades.
Need to streamline your recycling process? We also supply a range of recycling containers and paper recycling machinery to make things even easier!
WHAT TYPES OF CARDBOARD AND WASTE PAPER DO WE RECYCLE?
As paper and cardboard recycling specialists, we deal in all grades of paper waste and can guide you to a solution that works for you. We will help you maximise the value of your recycling materials and minimise the volume of waste you send to landfill, while reducing overall costs and improving disposal efficiency across your business operations.
We accept:
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OCC (Old Corrugated Containers)
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Redundant Paper Packaging (All types)
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Multi-grade printing waste
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Sorted office waste
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Best white 1 & 2 trim and slab
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News and pams
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Mixed paper
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Over issue news
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Solid board cuttings (scan, grey, kraft and poly-coat)
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Most other types of wastepaper on the market
HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE THE PAPER WASTE RECYCLING PROCESS
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Try and keep your wastepaper or cardboard recycling materials as dry as possible. Some moisture can be tolerated in certain grades, but this is usually around a maximum of 10%. While we know this is not easy in a beautiful but wet country like Scotland, we have solutions such as containers that can assist in keeping moisture to a minimum.
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Bales of paper or cardboard of any grade should be secured by a minimum of four steel wires to preserve the bale’s integrity. If a wire breaks, or a bale goes loose – don’t worry - we can still offer a collection and recycling solution in these and most types of situations.
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Try to keep paper separate from cardboard, corrugate and boards as this helps retain better values. Mixed paper is the lowest valued waste paper grade on the market, so if there is scope to keep grades separate, we will assist you in developing a recycling solution that is efficient and which achieves best value, at all times.
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Wastepaper should be free from contaminants such as metal (staples are ok), plastic (Sellotape is ok), glass, textiles, wood, sand, building materials, synthetic materials, synthetic papers and all other non-paper materials. All these contaminating materials cause different types of problems in the recycling process, resulting in lower values for your recycling products and possible disposal at non-recycling routes such as landfill or RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) - avoid these as much as possible to minimise waste costs.
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OCC (Old Corrugated Containers)Used printed or unprinted corrugated case material and used paper and board packaging (containing 100% corrugated board). Ideally in wired bales (4-5 wires securing the bale is great) and free from any contaminants (metal, plastic, glass, textiles, wood, sand, building materials, synthetic materials) as this can reduce the value of the materials or render them unrecyclable. Dry OCC is preferred but up to 10% moisture can be tolerated without losing any value. Commonly used for the manufacture of corrugated case materials (fluting and test-liner), solid packaging board (Grey-board), pulp products and wrapping papers. Highlander Tip: If you have a mixture of OCC and other paper materials, keep them separate as paper mills place a greater value on OCC and the separated materials can be recycled easier.
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Multi-grade printing wasteA mixture of papers in each bale made up of approximately; 15 – 20% White heavy letter 30% wood-free coloured shavings 25% coloured heavy letter and a maximum of 15% coloured pams and 5-10% coloured stationery. In this mix, we can take up to a maximum of 10% mechanical content. The material must be free from latex binders, self-adhesive labels, wet strength poly-laminates, and other contraries. Commonly used for: The manufacture of tissue products like hand towels, toilet tissue and kitchen roll. Highlander Tip: This is attractive on the Indian markets as it consists mostly of sheet and slab paper which can be sorted and upgraded easily.
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Sorted office wasteGeneral office paper is made up of coloured or white letters and business forms to be shredded. Up to 10%, manila envelopes and files can be included and to save you time there’s no need to remove metal pins and fasteners. Carbon paper should not be included, nor should any bleached materials. We keep the mechanical content under 10% for the best return. Commonly used for: The manufacture of recycled tissue products such as hand towels, toilet tissue and kitchen roll. Highlander Tip: Shredded paper materials are very popular in UK markets and generally get a better return than other markets.
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Best white 1 & 2 trim and cuttingBest white 1 100% pure white wood-free paper in baled form, with no coatings or markings and free of all plastic. No off tone wood-free paper is permitted within this grade and material found to contain off-tones, any coatings or marks will be downgraded to best white 2. Best white 2 This grade is up to 100% pure white wood-free paper, either slab or shavings, with some coatings or markings, some off-tone/cream wood-free paper can be tolerated (5% max). Commonly used for the manufacture of recycled papers for the publishing industry, recycled writing papers and luxury tissue products. Highlander Tip: Materials will be rejected if wet or found to contain paper from mechanical pulp, plastic, poly coat or laminate, so please keep these separate.
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News & pamsMixed newspapers, periodicals and magazines (PAMS). The mix of PAMS to news must be between 30-70% and free of all other materials including carbon paper, foil and laminates, synthetic papers and string. And contaminate free oil, grease, sand and metal. Usually subject to visual inspection so clean, dry materials are highly desirable. Almost exclusively used for the manufacture of recycled newsprint. Highlander Tip: Usually subject to visual inspection so clean, dry, well-presented materials are highly desirable.
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Mixed paperVarious papers, boards and packaging usually containing around 50% corrugated material. A maximum level of 1.5% of cans, bottles, plastic film and other non-paper materials from domestic sources is usually permitted. Commonly used for the manufacture of recycled boards such as writing pad backing. Highlander Tip: Generally exported to overseas markets mixed paper attracts attention from customs officers at foreign ports, for a smoother process it’s best to ensure all bales are well presented, clean, dry and tidy.
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Over issue newsMade up exclusively of newspapers, with only 5% the newsprint coloured/containing advertisements. Many newspapers come with poly-coated inserts, which can be problematic in the recycling process, if highlighted in advance this can be managed to ensure the best return for every bale supplied. Commonly used for: The manufacture of recycled newsprint, egg boxes or hospital containers and some tissue products. Highlander Tip: Niche markets exist for this material and considerably added value can be gained for the right quality.
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Solid board cuttings (scan, box, grey, kraft and poly-coat)A mix of new pre-consumer cuttings of paperboard such as grey board, scan board and/or kraft board, used in the manufacture of folding cartons, set-up boxes and similar boxboard products and groundwood free misprint sheets and cartons of bleached/scan board, free from any other type of paper or board. The materials should be free from wax, greaseproof lamination, gilt, adhesives or insoluble coatings. Commonly used for: The manufacture of recycled boards, some low-grade tissue products, like blue roll and it can also be used in the manufacture of new scan board boxes in pharmaceutical, food and industrial packing. Highlander Tip: There can be a price difference between lightly printed, medium printed and heavily printed scan-board. A general rule is that a lightly printed scan board has less than 20% print on the board, medium printed scan board should have between 20 – 30% print on the board and be free of deep/dark colours, anything else is considered heavily printed.
CONTACT US NOW FOR A QUOTE
Quick and convenient, our paper and cardboard recycling service can give you one less thing to worry about. Contact the team at Highlander International Recycling in Scotland for more information.