Notebooks Special Instructions Disassemble to Recycle To recycle a notebook, it must be taken apart. Separate the pages, spiral binding, and front and back covers. Place in Recycling– loose paper– metal spiral binding– front and back covers made from paperboard or thicker paper Place in Trash– plastic spiral binding– front and back covers made from plastic or cloth covered material– plastic inserts– pages with paint, glitter, or glue Consider DonationIf the item is still usable, please donate. Visit Athens’ Material Reuse page for ideas. Remove Other Non-Paper Items Flip through the notebook and remove any non-paper items such as staples, paper clips, cloth bindings, or pages with glitter or glue. Ways to Reduce Use Both Sides Always try to use both sides of a piece of paper to cut down on your overall paper use. Ways to Reuse Keep Unused Pages for Scratch Paper Didn’t use the whole notebook? Tear out any unused pages and keep them to use as scratch paper. Did You Know? How to Remove Bindings Without a Mess If you don’t want to tear the paper out of your spiral notebook and risk getting pieces everywhere, try these methods to remove the spirals instead. An Easier Way to Remove Notebook Wires If you have tools at home, try this method to remove metal spirals from your notebooks even faster.