Can You Recycle Books? What to Do With Every Kind of Book You Own

• Give A Shit About Nature
• April 12, 2026
• Sustainable Living
• 0 Comments

Can you recycle books? The short answer is yes — but with real caveats that most recycling guides skip over. Whether a book can go in your curbside bin depends on the type of book, how it’s bound, and what your local program accepts. And for most books in decent condition, recycling shouldn’t be the first stop anyway.

Here’s a complete guide to every option available, from curbside bins to donation programs to what to do with the ones that are genuinely too far gone to save.

Before you recycle: the hierarchy that matters

Books are one of the few household items where recycling is genuinely the last resort, not the first. A book that gets donated, resold, or passed on avoids the energy cost of pulping and remanufacturing entirely. Recycling recovers the material but destroys the object — and a readable book has more value intact than as pulp.

The order to work through:

1. Donate — if the book is readable and in decent condition
2. Sell or trade — if it has resale value
3. Pass on directly — Little Free Libraries, friends, community groups
4. Recycle — if it’s damaged, obsolete, or truly unwanted
5. Trash — only if wet, moldy, or contaminated (a wet book cannot be recycled)

Can you recycle paperback books?

Yes, and it’s straightforward. Paperback books are made almost entirely of paper and can go into your curbside recycling bin with your other mixed paper in most municipalities. No preparation required — the glue binding is removed during the pulping process.

A few things that disqualify a paperback from curbside recycling:

• Water damage or mold. Wet or moldy paper contaminates entire bales at recycling facilities. If a book is wet or smells musty, it goes in the trash.
• Laminated or plastic-coated covers. Some paperbacks have covers with a plastic film coating. These can complicate processing — check your local program’s guidelines if you’re unsure.

When in doubt, call your municipal recycling program or check their website. Five minutes of research prevents a load of recycling from being rejected at the facility.

Can you recycle hardcover books?

Yes, but not without some preparation — and some programs won’t accept them at all.

The problem is the hardcover itself. Most hardcover bindings are made from a combination of cardboard, fabric or cloth, leather or faux leather, and sometimes plastic-coated materials. These can’t all be processed together the way plain paper can.

To recycle a hardcover book:

1. Remove the cover completely. Use a box cutter or scissors to cut along the spine.
2. Set the cover aside — the cardboard component may be recyclable separately, but check locally; laminated or fabric-covered boards often aren’t accepted.
3. The inner pages (the “text block”) can go into your curbside paper recycling.

Some programs accept hardcovers whole, relying on their equipment to handle separation. Others exclude them entirely. Again — check locally before assuming.

What about textbooks, encyclopedias, and reference books?

These follow the same rules as other hardcovers for physical recycling. The more important question is whether they have any reuse value first.

Current textbooks in good condition can be sold through BookScouter, which compares buyback prices from dozens of vendors simultaneously — useful for college textbooks especially. Chegg and AbeBooks are also active buyback markets.

Outdated encyclopedias and reference books are a harder case. Most libraries, thrift stores, and donation programs will not take them — they’re outdated and largely unsellable. If they’re in good physical condition, Better World Books will accept them and either sell, donate, or recycle them responsibly. If they’re in poor condition, recycling the text block as paper is the right call.

Can you put books in curbside recycling bins?

For most paperbacks, yes. For hardcovers, it depends on your municipality. A few general rules that apply almost everywhere:

• Books must be dry — this is non-negotiable at virtually every facility
• Remove any non-paper inserts: bookmarks, CDs, plastic pouches, elastic bands
• No more than a reasonable quantity at once — some programs limit the number of hardcovers per pickup to prevent processing problems

The most reliable way to know for certain is to search “[your city] + recycling + books” or check your local waste management website directly.

Donation programs worth knowing about

If your books are in readable condition, these programs are worth your time — they keep books in use, support literacy initiatives, and in some cases raise money for meaningful causes.

Better World Books operates green donation drop boxes at libraries, college campuses, and retail locations across the U.S. Books that can be sold are listed online; unsellable books are recycled into pulp for products like cardboard and tissue. They’ve diverted over 475 million books from landfills and raised more than $35 million for literacy programs. Find a drop box by zip code on their website. Note: donations are not tax-deductible, as Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise.

Books for Africa accepts donations of new and gently used books for distribution to students and libraries across Africa. They accept a wide range of titles and provide shipping instructions on their website.

Little Free Library maintains a map of over 150,000 book-sharing boxes worldwide. Great for a small number of books you want to pass along quickly and locally.

Local public libraries often accept donations for their shelves or annual book sales, with proceeds funding library programs. Call ahead — most libraries are selective and won’t take textbooks, encyclopedias, or books in poor condition.

Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity ReStores accept book donations at most locations. Quality standards vary, but these are convenient drop-off options for mixed lots.

Books Through Bars sends books to people in prison. They’re selective about what they accept — check their guidelines before donating, as they prioritize specific subjects and formats.

What to do with books that can’t be donated or recycled

Some books are genuinely beyond saving: water-damaged, mildewed, torn apart, or so outdated they have no reuse value. If recycling isn’t an option either — because your program won’t accept them or they’re too contaminated — they go in the trash.

That’s not a failure. A moldy book in a recycling bin contaminates an entire bale. Putting it in the trash is the right call.

One alternative worth knowing: plain paper pages from books (no glossy coating, no contamination) can be composted. The paper is carbon-rich and breaks down reasonably well in a home compost pile, especially if shredded. Remove covers and any non-paper components first.

A note on selling books before recycling them

If you have a large number of books to clear out, it’s worth taking ten minutes to check whether any of them have meaningful resale value before donating or recycling everything.

BookScouter lets you enter an ISBN and instantly see what multiple buyback vendors will pay. Most books return little or nothing, but textbooks, certain nonfiction titles, and books with limited print runs can occasionally surprise you. It costs nothing to check and takes seconds per title.

For selling rather than trading in, ThriftBooks, AbeBooks, and local used bookstores are worth exploring. Independent bookstores that buy used books are often picky but can pay well for the right titles.

Frequently asked questions

Can you recycle books in the curbside bin? Paperbacks generally yes; hardcovers depend on your local program and usually require cover removal first. Always verify with your municipality — rules vary significantly by city and hauler.

Can wet or moldy books be recycled? No. Wet or moldy paper cannot be processed and contaminates recycling bales. These go in the trash.

Does Better World Books accept all types of books? They accept most books in readable condition, including hardcovers, paperbacks, and textbooks. They do not accept books that are wet, moldy, heavily damaged, or certain specialty formats. Check their material guidelines before donating.

Can magazine be recycled? Yes — most curbside programs accept magazines with your paper recycling. You don’t need to remove staples. Remove any plastic sleeves or poly-bagging first and recycle those separately if your program accepts film plastic, or discard them.

Are e-books more environmentally friendly than physical books? The answer is genuinely complicated and depends on how many books you read. The manufacturing and shipping of a single e-reader device has a significant environmental footprint — studies suggest you need to read roughly 40 to 100 books on a device before it breaks even with physical books environmentally. Heavy readers benefit from e-readers; light readers may not. Buying used physical books is often the most sustainable option of all.

What should I do with a very large book collection? Start with BookScouter to identify anything with resale value. Then contact Better World Books about their drop box or mail-in options for the remainder. What’s left after that can go to curbside recycling (paperbacks) or a local recycling drop-off center after removing hardcovers.