Are Paper Towels Recyclable?

Paper towels have become a staple in many households for cleaning up spills, drying hands, and other quick cleaning tasks.

But with increased awareness around sustainability and waste, many people wonder if these convenient paper products can be recycled.

Table of Contents

How Are Paper Towels Produced?

To understand if paper towels can be recycled, it helps to first look at how they are produced.

Paper towels start out as trees that are harvested and turned into wood pulp. The pulp then goes through several processes:

The wood is chipped, cleaned, and bleached to create smooth, purified pulp.
The pulp is pressed into paper sheets. For paper towels, the sheets are pressed lighter to create a softer, more absorbent texture.
The paper sheets are bonded together using resins and softeners to give paper towels their strength and absorption abilities.
An embossing process adds the texture and perforations to create the paper towel sheets.
The perforated sheets are wound around a cardboard tube and packaged.

The addition of resins, softeners and other chemicals makes paper towels more difficult to recycle than plain paper. The fibers also become shortened as part of the pulping process.

Are Paper Towels Recyclable?

The short answer is no, paper towels cannot be recycled through normal curbside recycling programs.

There are two main reasons paper towels don’t belong in the recycling bin:

The fibers are too short to be re-pulped and made into new paper after being processed into paper towels. Virgin fibers can usually be recycled 5-7 times before becoming too short. Paper towels are at the end of that recycling chain.
Paper towels are contaminated with food, grease, chemicals, and other residue from cleaning tasks. Anything with food or grease cannot be recycled.

Even unused, clean paper towels should not go into recycling. The fibers are still too short and the chemicals make them unsuitable for recycling.

However, the cardboard tube inside paper towel rolls is recyclable. Make sure to remove the tube and add it to your curbside recycling bin when the paper towels are used up.

Are Certain Types of Paper Towels Recyclable?

No matter the type – brown, bleached, recycled, etc. – no paper towels can be recycled through standard municipal recycling programs. Here is a breakdown:

Bleached white paper towels – Not recyclable. Bleaching and added chemicals make recycling impossible.
Unbleached “brown” paper towels – Also not recyclable. The shorter fibers still prevent recycling even without bleaching.
100% recycled paper towels – These cannot be recycled again. The recycled paper fibers are even shorter to begin with.
Paper napkins – Like paper towels, napkins cannot be recycled due to contamination and short fibers.

No current recycling technology can separate the resins and short fibers in paper towels to make recycling viable. Until then, it’s best to keep all used paper towels and napkins out of the recycling bin.

What Should You Do With Used Paper Towels?

If paper towels can’t be recycled, what are the best disposal methods? Here are some options:

Composting – Paper towels without chemical residues can be composted as a high-carbon “brown” addition along with food scraps. This allows their fibers to break down naturally. Make sure to tear or shred paper towels into small pieces first.
Municipal composting – Many cities offer municipal compost pickup for food and yard waste that may accept paper towels. Check with your local waste department.
Trash – As a last resort, place paper towels in a trash bag for landfill disposal if composting is not possible.
Reuse tubes – Remove cardboard tubes from used paper towels and add to your curbside recycling bin.

Avoid flushing paper towels down the toilet, as they can clog pipes. Also never put used paper towels containing chemicals, grease or oils into garden compost, as these cannot break down properly.

Key Takeaway: Used paper towels should go into compost bins or trash bags – never into recycling due to short fibers and contamination. Their cardboard tubes can be recycled.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Paper Towels

The best way to reduce paper towel waste is to find reusable alternatives for cleaning and drying tasks. Here are some ideas:

Reusable Cloths

Kitchen towels – Use cotton dish towels in place of paper towels for spills and drying. Assign different colored towels for each task.
Washcloths – Small reusable cotton washcloths are great for quick cleanups and wiping surfaces. Easy to launder and reuse.
Napkins – Cloth napkins can replace paper towels for wiping hands and mouths after meals.
Rags – Cut up old t-shirts and fabrics into reusable cleaning rags. Great for dusting and wiping.

Reusable Towel Rolls

Unpaper towels – These reusable fabric rolls mimic paper towel rolls. Tear off what you need and re-roll.
Swedish dishcloths – Extremely absorbent and durable reusable cloth rolls. Compostable when worn out.
Bamboo paper towels – Made from renewable bamboo fibers but reusable and washable like cloth.

The key is to have reusable towels handy and in plain sight for quick cleanups. With a bit of habit building, reusable towels can effectively replace single-use paper towels.

FAQs

Can you recycle used paper towels?

No, used paper towels cannot be recycled. Food, grease, and other contaminants prevent them from being re-pulped into new paper. The fibers are also too short to recycle into paper towels again.

What about unused paper towels?

Even unused paper towels cannot be recycled. The short fibers and chemical additives still make them unsuitable for recycling facilities.

Are brown unbleached paper towels recyclable?

Brown paper towels have not been bleached, but they still contain short fibers that cannot be recycled into new paper products. Best to compost these if clean or place in the trash.

Can you include paper towels in curbside compost pickup?

If your city offers municipal composting, there’s a chance they can accept clean paper towels. Contact your local waste department to find out their specific policies. Do not include paper towels soiled with grease, chemicals or oils.

What should you do with paper towel tubes?

The cardboard tubes left over from paper towel rolls can be recycled. Make sure to remove the tube and place it in your curbside recycling bin or take to a local recycling center.

Conclusion

Paper towels may seem like an obvious paper product that should be recyclable. However, the reality is that no standard municipal recycling programs accept paper towels – clean or used.

The intense processing and chemicals used to produce strong, absorbent paper towels make their fibers too short and contaminated to be recycled.

For now, the best disposal methods are composting clean paper towels, and reserving heavily soiled ones for the landfill or non-compostable trash. You can also cut down on paper towel waste by switching to reusable cloth towels and napkins whenever possible.