You've broken down a delivery box, you're about to put it in the recycling bin, and there's a strip of plastic tape running across the flaps. Do you peel it off first, or does it not matter? It's a small question that comes up constantly, and the honest answer depends on what the tape is actually made from, since not all packaging tape behaves the same way once it reaches a recycling facility.
This guide covers whether packaging tape can be recycled, what happens to different tape types during the cardboard recycling process, and which tape to choose if you want a genuinely fuss-free recyclable finish.
Can you recycle cardboard boxes with tape still on them?
Yes, in the UK, cardboard boxes can generally go in the recycling bin even with standard plastic packaging tape still attached. Cardboard is one of the most widely and efficiently recycled materials, and UK recycling facilities are set up to handle a reasonable amount of tape on incoming material without it derailing the process. Small amounts of standard acrylic or BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) tape on a box are removed during sorting and don't need to be manually stripped off before the box goes in your bin.
That said, "a small amount of tape" and "a box wrapped in several layers of tape" are different situations. Heavy tape build-up, particularly multiple overlapping layers used to reinforce a box, is worth removing where practical, since a large amount of plastic film mixed into the cardboard pulping process is more likely to cause genuine processing issues than a couple of standard sealing strips.
What actually happens to plastic tape during cardboard recycling?
When cardboard is recycled, it's sorted, shredded, and pulped with water to break the fibres down. The resulting pulp is then processed into new sheets to make recycled cardboard products. Plastic tape doesn't break down in this process the way cardboard fibre does. During pulping and screening, the plastic tape separates out from the paper pulp and is removed as a reject stream, rather than ending up incorporated into the new recycled board.
This is why small amounts of standard tape on a box don't cause a meaningful problem: the recycling process is already designed to filter out non-paper contaminants like tape, staples and plastic windows during processing. The system copes with normal levels of this kind of material without difficulty.
Is packaging tape itself recyclable?
This is a different question from whether a taped box can go in the recycling bin, and the answer depends on the tape type.
Standard polypropylene (BOPP) tape
This is the most common type of packaging tape, made from a polypropylene film with an acrylic adhesive. On its own, separated from cardboard, standard plastic packaging tape isn't something that goes in household plastic recycling collections. It isn't accepted as a recyclable plastic in its own right through standard UK kerbside or supermarket plastic collection schemes. Where it ends up being effectively recycled is as a contaminant removed during the cardboard recycling process described above, rather than being recycled as plastic itself.
Kraft paper tape
Kraft paper tape is a genuinely different proposition. Made from paper with either a hot-melt or water-activated adhesive, it's fully recyclable alongside cardboard and paper. Because it's made from the same base material as the box itself, it doesn't need to be separated out during processing in the way plastic tape does, and most UK councils accept paper-taped cardboard without any caveats. This is the tape to use if you want to remove any ambiguity from the recycling question entirely.
Fragile tape and coloured tape
These are typically the same BOPP film as standard tape, just printed or pigmented differently. The same guidance applies as for standard plastic tape: fine in normal quantities on a recycled box, not something to put in plastic recycling on its own.
Should you remove tape before recycling cardboard?
For normal, everyday packaging, removing a couple of strips of standard plastic tape from a box before recycling is good practice but not strictly necessary in the UK, since the cardboard recycling process is designed to filter it out. If you want to be thorough, or if a box has a lot of tape on it from multiple uses or heavy reinforcement, removing what you reasonably can reduces the load on the sorting process and is a sensible habit, particularly for businesses recycling cardboard in volume.
If you're using kraft paper tape, there's no need to remove it at all. It's part of the same recyclable material stream as the box.
What about water-activated kraft tape?
Water-activated kraft tape, the type that requires a damp sponge or dispenser to activate the adhesive, is also fully recyclable with cardboard. There are two versions worth knowing about: non-reinforced, made purely from paper and a starch-based adhesive, which is entirely recyclable, and reinforced, which has fine fibreglass filaments embedded for extra strength. The paper portion of reinforced tape is recyclable, but the fibreglass strands themselves are not, so reinforced kraft tape isn't quite as clean a recycling story as the standard self-adhesive version, even though it still performs better overall than standard plastic tape.
Does this differ by local council?
Recycling rules and processing capabilities vary by local authority in the UK, and while the general guidance above holds for most areas, it's worth checking your specific council's guidance if you're ever unsure, particularly for businesses recycling cardboard in significant volume where consistent compliance matters more than for occasional household recycling.
Making the switch to a fully recyclable tape
If removing any doubt from the recycling question matters to your business, whether for genuine sustainability reasons or because customers increasingly notice and care about plastic-free packaging, switching to kraft paper tape removes the question entirely. It performs the same sealing job as standard plastic tape, seals reliably to clean, dry cardboard, and goes straight into recycling with the box at the end of its life with no separation needed.
The trade-off, as covered in our wider guide to packaging tape types, is that kraft paper tape rolls are typically shorter than standard polypropylene rolls, and self-adhesive versions don't have quite the same tamper-evident security as a water-activated kraft tape or as standard plastic tape with a printed fragile warning. For businesses prioritising a fully plastic-free packaging line, this trade-off is usually worth it. For businesses where tape volume and tamper evidence matter more than the recycling story specifically, standard plastic tape remains a perfectly reasonable choice, given that it doesn't meaningfully disrupt the cardboard recycling process in normal use.
You can browse our full range of packaging tape, including standard acrylic tape and plastic-free kraft paper options, to find what suits your packaging line and your approach to recyclability.
Leave a comment