Yellow Pages
The colouring of yellow pages directories makes them less suitable to be included in the normal paper recycling stream than office paper or newspapers.
Yellow Pages can be recycled into newsprint, but to maintain brightness the dyed paper requires extra processing (bleaching). For this reason, many paper reprocessors do not accept yellow pages in their paper stream.
Our recycling / disposal advice
All HWRCs will accept Yellow Pages for recycling, and should be placed into the paper bank on site. Some District Councils in Hertfordshire participate in the annual 'Yellow Woods Challenge' to collect the directories for recycling. For more information on whether your own Council is participating in the scheme, contact them directly.
One way of recycling it at home is to tear it up for animal bedding if you have pets or in the compost heap to prevent it becoming too wet. The thin paper composts quite quickly if shredded.
Ordinary (white) telephone directories should not generally go into the paper recycling collection points as the age of the paper makes it more difficult to remove the ink in the recycling process.
Use the search below to find where to recycle / dispose of Yellow Pages.