How do I recycle/reuse/repurpose products and packaging from you?

Should you fall out of love with Mint To Be creations (gift them!) or want to recycle packaging, rest assured that most materials from Mint To Be can easily be recycled. Where items are not so easily recycled in your local kerbside collections, they may well be recycled within your neighbourhood at recycling bins available at local supermarkets or at your local/municipal recycling facility. Details for each material we use are included below.

However, we encourage reuse wherever possible and are great believers in giving once used materials new life wherever possible; indeed, all of Mint To Be’s artwork and products include a proportion of recycled/repurposed materials in their creation, even though this might not be immediately obvious! Fortunately, today’s recycled art does not have to look like the yesteryear sticky backed plastic/old cornflakes box creations of the presenters of the BBC children’s television programme, Blue Peter!

If you cannot reuse materials from us yourself, why not contact your local schools, community groups, scrap stores or see if other recycling artists local to you would find any materials of use to them? When I was studying for my post-graduate degree, I topped up my EU funding by working every holiday in my local authority’s waste and recycling department. There I often received enquiries from both the public and schools/local groups, either wanting to recycle items/materials or in need of them; I often put both parties in contact with one another and both got that feel good factor by avoiding yet more unnecessary landfill. Charities may also be collecting specific materials too.

Slimline flexible magnets

Each flexible art magnet is printed in the UK by an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified printing company on board with a rubber-free magnetic MagneCote coating, which is biodegradable.

Our slimline flexible magnets are fully recyclable, but you may need to check with your local authority/waste management company for the facilities that they have to offer. Alternatively, you could reuse them yourself or offer them to schools or community groups (they are thin enough to be cut with scissors into different shapes by hand) for their projects.

Art cards

Art cards are widely recyclable, often in your local kerbside collection or at local recycling facilities.

All the card and paper used by Mint To Be is pulpable, this includes any foiled parts. The manufacturer of the foil that we use has designed it in such a way that it is also recyclable; when we foil a product, only an extremely thin layer is added (thinner than the printed ink!) and this simply dissipates when the card/paper is re-pulped. If your local authority/waste management company prefers not to recycle these parts, then they should go into your general waste bin. We do not use glitter.

Sometimes school, community groups and scrap stores are willing to take the fronts of cards so that they can be reused in craft projects. Charities may also collect them for fundraising purposes, along with stamps and sell them on for recycling.

Coasters

Should you fall out of love with your coasters, consider repurposing them. Whilst coasters can be recycled, the glossy coating on them makes it a little more difficult to do so. If your local authority/waste management company prefers not to recycle them, then they should go into your general waste bin. If you cannot reuse them yourself why not offer them to schools for craft projects or donate them to charity shops?

Coaster Gift Boxes

Our foiled gift boxes are fully recyclable and the foiled logo on them is so thin that the micro layer of foil will dissipate when the board of the gift boxes is pulped. If your local authority/waste management company prefers not to recycle these parts, then they should go into your general waste bin.

This pad is slightly more difficult to recycle at recycling plants due to the adhesive bonding the fabric to the foam. This foam can be used by schools, community groups and recycling artists in their projects though (directly, or via scrap stores), so it’s worth asking if this is something they can use.

Please check with your local recycling facility or local authority for the services offered in your area.

Art prints

If you can bear to part with your art prints and can’t find someone to gift them to, or a charity shop to take them, rest assured that all art prints and their white, acid-free backing boards are made from recyclable paper/board and are widely recyclable, often in your local kerbside collection or at local recycling facilities.

Postal Tubes and Plastic End Caps

We advise saving our strong cardboard postal tubes and reusing them yourself or donating them to an artist who will usually be very grateful for them and will happily reuse them, or to schools, local community groups or charities or scrap stores. They also make great tubes to package and disguise miniature liqueurs, slim bottles of craft beer, artisan sauces and dressings, enabling them to be easily gift wrapped next festive season.

Our postal tubes are fully recyclable. The strong cardboard cylinder can be widely recycled, often in your local kerbside collection or at local recycling facilities.

The plastic end caps from our postal tubes are made from a type of plastic; Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE4), which can readily be recycled, however its recycling seems to be very varied from place to place, so please check with your local recycling facility or local authority for the services offered in your area.

Where LDPE4 plastic is recycled, it is commonly used in the manufacture of bin liners, plastic furniture and floor tiles.

Clear Polypropylene Sleeves

Sometimes our products are packaged in a thin protective sleeve which is manufactured from crystal clear polypropylene (PP5); a recyclable plastic and its use is kept to a minimum. Although it is recyclable, its recycling seems to be very varied from place to place, so please check with your local recycling facility or local authority for the services offered in your area; if your local authority/waste management company prefers not to recycle these sleeves, then they should go into your general waste bin.

Since we usually exhibit at quite a few outdoor events, a number of the products that you can buy from us at events are wrapped in a PP5 protective plastic sleeve out of necessity, to shield the card from damage by the elements (which would mean even more waste). We have experimented with compostable bio-film clear packaging with disappointing results for applications; when exhibiting outdoors, in the combination of direct sun, heat and rain, we found that they were breaking down during the duration of an event, leaving the product inside exposed to the elements and sadly becoming damaged.

The other issue with compostable packaging is that many local authorities and waste management companies insist that it still be disposed of in your general waste bin, unless you choose to compost it in a home composting bin. Compostable packaging takes much longer to break down than food and garden waste; it might surprise you that it can sometimes take years for it to break down.

Where PP5 polypropylene is recycled, it is commonly used in the manufacture of automotive parts, plastic trays, shipping containers, bike racks, garden rakes, storage bins and many other common items.

Board Backed Envelopes

All our shipping envelopes, including the sticky, self-adhesive strip on board backed envelopes, are readily recyclable in local kerbside collections or at local recycling facilities. However, please check with your local authority to see this strip is recyclable in your area; if your local authority/waste management company prefers not to recycle these parts, then tear the strip off and put them into your general waste bin. You could always save any board backed envelopes to reuse when posting things yourself.

Cardboard Shipping Boxes and Corrugated Cardboard

All our shipping boxes and any corrugated cardboard that we use when shipping our products is readily recyclable in local kerbside collections or at local recycling facilities; flatten them to save space.

However, we encourage you to do what we do and save any shipping boxes to reuse when posting things yourself. We deconstruct boxes first by loosening their construction tabs and opening them out to store flat, which saves space and then reconstruct them again when we are ready to use them.

Additional shipping and display packaging

Backing cards, leaflets and backing cards are readily recyclable in local kerbside collections or at local recycling facilities.

Packaging tape is not recyclable and should be removed from parcels before recycling. We realise that there are other greener packaging tape options now coming onto the market, but we obtained a monster supply of packaging tape (and polypropylene clear sleeves) some time ago from a company that was going out of business and was about to put it into landfill anyway, so whilst we have it, we are reusing our current supply first; dumping it rather defeats the object.

FAQs