Government to phase out paper recycling banks

Paper banks will be removed from the Eastern and Northern amenity sites

Government paper recycling banks are being removed from the Isle of Man to save money and because they are no longer deemed environmentally beneficial.

Paper collected on the island must be shipped to the UK for recycling, resulting in costs for collection and transportation as well as associated carbon emissions.

The government has determined that carbon savings from energy recovery through burning paper at the island’s Energy from Waste plant will be superior to recycling.

The change coming into force this month is due to the fact that paper recovered for recycling has “fallen dramatically”, from 1,600 tonnes in 2007 to 200 in 2023.

This decline is being attributed to “the rise of online publishing and the continued fall in sales of newspapers and print products”.

The change is expected to save the Department of Infrastructure between £35,000 and £50,000 annually.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall said: "Making this change will mark a significant shift for a lot of households where paper has been recycled for many years alongside other items.

“Residents who currently get rid of paper using the bring banks are encouraged to dispose of it in their wheelie bins instead, where it will be processed through the Energy from Waste plant.

'The value of its incineration'

He said that residents with kerbside paper collection or a private recycling scheme should continue to use these.

Mr Crookall explained that the change is only being applied to paper “due to the value of its incineration for renewable electricity production”.

He advised that all other materials should still be recycled in the same way, as burning metal or glass in the plant would not be environmentally beneficial – just as the recycling of textiles remains “extremely effective at reducing carbon emission”.