Where can you throw away tape? Here’s the recycling procedure
Where can you throw away tape? Where should you throw adhesive tape to avoid fines, and to properly carry out waste sorting? When it comes to dividing trash correctly, you might have many questions.
More: sometimes you might believe completely incorrect facts, which could lead you to make mistakes week after week. Think, for example, of receipts, which should not be put in the paper recycling, but thrown with the mixed waste, as it is made with special thermal paper.
Another example is cardboard pizza boxes, which should always be split in two in principle: the clean parts, such as the lid, should be thrown into the paper, whereas the dirty sections, as the bottom typically is, should be put together with the mixed waste instead (although there are municipalities which, on the other hand, include these dirty sections in the wet waste).
And these are just some of the most common questions, which can be added to those related to cigarette butts (which should be thrown in the mixed waste), baking paper (mixed waste), used paper towels (wet waste), and so on. And double-sided tape is part of this very long list: where should you throw adhesive tape according to recycling rules?
What are the risks for those who mess up waste sorting?
Mis-sorting means complicating or even compromising the work of those who will then have to treat our waste. For this reason, there are also heavy fines for those who make these kinds of mistakes.
However, it is not possible to report exactly what are the fines for those who do not fully respect the rules, since each municipality can provide for different economic sanctions. In principle, however, it can be said that a fine for offences related to waste sorting can vary between 30 and 600 euros, depending on the municipality and the gravity of the violation.
Regulating collection at national level is Legislative Decree 15/2006; it should be stressed that, in the case of problems with waste sorting in a building, in most cases the individual themselves will not be the one to pay (as it would be difficult to identify the real culprit) as much as the entire building, with the penalty being divided among all tenants.
It will then eventually be the job of the building administrator to try to find out who the actual transgressor is, to ensure that the matter does not repeat itself over time.
In any case, the Municipal Police are responsible for giving out fines for incorrect waste sorting. But let’s get back to the main question: given what the fines for those making mistakes are, let’s have a look at where you should throw away tape.
Where does the tape go? Types of tape
As we know by now, waste sorting provides for different trash disposal channels according to their material. That is why, for example, cardboard packaging goes one way and plastic packaging goes the other. However, in the case of double-sided tape we are dealing with many different materials. There are, for example, the classic rolls of transparent, office tape.
Then there are professional adhesive PVC tape rolls, or high-performance adhesive PPL tape rolls, not to mention American duct tape, double-sided tape, and of course paper adhesive tape.
The materials used to make these double-sided tapes are extremely different, and you could legitimately expect to have to throw different types in different bins: what would be the sense to put the paper tape in the same bin as duct tape, or packing tape?
Where should you throw tape to avoid fines
Actually, as we will outline, the analysis of the materials used to make industrial double-sided adhesive tape could be deceiving. Let’s start from the classic transparent tape, those medium or small rolls which we all have on our desk in the office or in some drawer inside the house, meant to create gift packages at Christmastime.
Well, the plastic dispenser which makes it possible for you to easily use the tape without having to search for the end of the strong double-sided adhesive tape each time can simply be thrown into the plastic collection bin or, in any case, in the light packaging one.
The case of dispensers meant for heavier adhesive tape is different, as it designed to last over time, and to install in them a new roll of tape once the previous has been exhausted: in that case, the dispenser should be thrown in mixed waste, rather than being treated as packaging.
Let’s consider the inner roll, i.e., the circle keeping the roll in shape: where should you throw it once the tape is finished? Again, everything depends on the material: the cardboard ones will go with paper, the plastic ones with other plastic.
And what about industrial double-sided tape? Well, the correct answer is always the mixed and dry waste. This applies to PVC tape, to duct tape, and even to paper tape: this is because, regardless of the material the tape is made of, there will always be a non-soluble layer of glue at the bottom.
