Am I supposed to take paper labels off tins before recycling?

[spidermama]

Boring but ...

Some people do, some don't peel the lables off tins before putting them in recycle boxes.

Is there an official line on this?

Any ideas.

think about it - what do they do to tins which are going to be recycled, and what happens to paper in those conditions?

(no, you don't need to remove the labels.)

sorry for the patronising tone - I'm in a funny mood today.

paper probably does add a few impurities to the final recycled aluminium/steel, but then so would paint.

I would guess that if you used clean water to soak the tins to remove the lables you would probably be negating any energy saved by recyling the tins. The recyclers just burn off the labels when they melt the tins.

i leave them on in the hope they recycle the paper too