Can You Recycle Cardboard Boxes With Tape and Staples?

Yes, cardboard boxes can usually be recycled with small amounts of tape and ordinary staples still attached. Remove large plastic additions, keep the card clean and dry, and flatten it if your council requests this.

How mills recycle cardboard boxes with tape and staples

Cardboard is mixed with water to release its fibres. Screens and cleaning equipment remove many staples, small pieces of tape and other contaminants from the pulp. This makes perfection unnecessary, but everything screened out becomes waste and can reduce efficiency. Removing easy, substantial attachments at home still improves the load.

Prioritise the troublesome additions

Cut or pull away plastic banding, parcel straps, bubble wrap, foam corners, large sticky labels in plastic wallets and reinforced tape with threads. These materials do not break down into paper fibre. Ordinary metal staples are tiny by comparison and are normally captured during processing, so do not tear away half the box trying to extract each one.

Polystyrene inserts need their own disposal route. Remove them before recycling the cardboard, then use our polystyrene recycling and disposal guide to check clean-EPS collection points, retailer options and the correct fallback.

Flatten without creating a hazard

Open the base, remove all contents and fold the box flat. Use scissors carefully on stubborn tape rather than pulling towards your face. Do not leave staples protruding where they can scratch someone. Oversized boxes may need cutting into manageable sheets so the lid closes and the card does not jam in a communal chute.

Dry and clean matter more than appearance

Rain-soaked card loses strength and can stick to other recycling. Store flattened boxes indoors or in a covered bin until collection. Remove greasy food-soiled sections and follow local advice for them; a clean delivery label or printed ink is usually far less important than oil, food, wax or a waterproof plastic coating.

Check how extra card is collected

A council may accept card only inside the recycling container, ask for it bundled beside a box, or direct large quantities to a recycling centre. Do not wedge sheets beside an overflowing bin and assume the crew will take them. After a move or large delivery, stagger the card over collections or use the official drop-off route.

Deal with heavily taped delivery boxes

A box sealed along every edge with reinforced tape deserves more preparation than one with a single closing strip. Slice the tape safely, open the box and peel away the longest sections while the card is dry. Remove plastic courier wallets and return labels containing personal details. If pulling tape starts stripping away large layers of fibre, stop: a small residue is generally less wasteful than destroying otherwise sound cardboard. Fold removed tape into itself so its adhesive cannot catch loose paper or escape as litter.

Do you need to remove tape from cardboard before recycling?

You do not normally need to remove every small strip of ordinary parcel tape. Peel away long, heavy or easily removable sections, together with plastic strapping and reinforced tape. Keep the box dry, flatten it and follow your council’s cardboard rules.

Can cardboard boxes with staples be recycled?

A few ordinary metal staples can usually remain because recycling mills screen them from the paper pulp. Remove loose or protruding staples that could scratch someone, but do not tear away large areas of usable cardboard trying to make the box perfect.

Should shipping labels and plastic document wallets come off?

Ordinary paper labels can usually stay on. Remove plastic courier sleeves, laminated wallets and other large plastic attachments when they come away easily. Shred or obscure personal information before recycling the packaging.

Official sources

• GOV.UK – Simpler Recycling: household recycling in England
• Recycle Now – recycling guidance

Sources checked: August 2026. Local services and national requirements can change.