Did you know it is recommended to put your shopping receipts made of thermal paper in the trash instead of in the recycling?
I imagine most peoples first instinct is to recycle their receipts because they are made of paper. Logical assumption. Until recently, I have been doing this myself. Read more about BPA and thermal paper here.
According to the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Rapid Research (PPRC), disposing of thermal paper receipts in the trash is recommended rather than recycling them to reduce environmental release of BPA.
Apparently, recycling thermal paper is one of the largest culprits of BPA entering the wastewater treatment plants. This is due to intensive amounts of water used during the recycling process and the free release of BPA-containing coating materials.
Recycling thermal paper can increase human exposure to BPA. When the paper is recycled, it can contaminate new paper products, some which come in contact with food and then migrate to the food.
The amount of BPA in recycled paper is actually higher than the amount in virgin paper. WOW, scary stuff.
Disposing thermal paper in the trash provides at least a buffer for BPA to break down within a landfill though the anaerobic conditions in many landfills often do not favor breakdown. Ultimately, landfill leachate should be collected and treated, which will further reduce BPA levels, according to the PPRC. Is this being done? I am not sure. But, it would definitely help to reduce the BPA in our water.
It seems almost impossible to avoid toxins in our environment. Consumers should be cautions of how they handle thermal paper to minimize their exposure. It seems that the least detrimental way to dispose of this BPA containing paper is the trash. I just hope that a better alternative can be found to rid BPA from our water.
Sometimes, I want to just live in a natural non-toxic bubble! Sigh
Sources: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Rapid Research
BPA, Fun Fact Friday, recycle
I am the Good Girl Gone Green. Seeing garbage cans overflowing with recyclables breaks my heart.
I always put them in the trash. Visiting from the hop.
Yay!
I’m so glad you posted about this because I’ve been wondering! I almost always refuse the receipt because of the BPA, but I really wasn’t sure what to do about the receipts we do get. Thank you!
You’re welcome. When I found this out I knew I had to share!
We always save them and eventually shred or burn them. We don’t recycle them but not sure if our method is good or not! My husband is in law enforcement and told me that his ticket printer in his vehicle prints thermal paper. Scary!
Scary is right. If I was a cashier or anyone that handled thermal paper I would personally wear gloves!
I didn’t know that it made a difference. Thanks for sharing!!!
Have a nice day!
Thanks! It is pretty yucky once you think about it!
I never would have thought of this. Thanks for the tip!
You asked where the windmills were at on my blog yesterday. The answer: in Iowa on highway 50. I’m not sure which city. We had to take that route to get from Nebraska to KC because I-29 is closed due to all the flooding. They say it won’t be opened up again for possibly a year! YIKES! It takes a whole extra hour to get there. At least we have pretty windmills to look at! We have friends and a few family members that live there.
Thanks so much for this information! I’m going to change that now. Incidentally – at the bottom of your page, an ad popped up for selling Thermal Rolls: 40 mm Thermal Rolls Cheapest Thermal Rolls Online. All Sizes.Fast Delivery http://www.CountMoney.co.uk.
LoL.. Thanks again!
Glad the info was useful. About the ads, I have no control over what ad will show up unfortunetly.
“The amount of BPA in recycled paper is actually higher than the amount in virgin paper. WOW, scary stuff.” Why on earth is this surprising? Have you ever heard of BPA occurring in nature? No. So why would there be any BPA in virgin paper? There wouldn’t. So why does it surprise you that recycled paper actually has a higher BPA level than virgin paper?