You'll have to call your local recycling agency to find out for sure, but I'll guess it is not recycled. A lot of wallpaper is vinyl and cannot be recycled. It probably is easier for recyclers to say "not recyclable" than to have people decide for themselves if their wallpaper is paper or vinyl.

OTOH, if we're talking wallpaper still on the roll, then you can advertise it on on-line sites like freecycle, craigslist, etc. or print pubs like Pennysavers (if they still exist) to see if someone else wants it.

Thanks for your response Steve. I didn't think about the possibility that it might be vinyl.

The wallpaper in question has to be at least 30 years old, judging from the style. I'm removing it from my walls, so it's not reusable. We do have a couple of rolls of wallpaper still packaged that I've been wondering what to do with. I'll look at freecycle or craiglist.

If it's just printed paper then you should be able to compost it. Alternatives if you have a solid fuel burner then you can put the paper scraps in to those log makers.

Wallpaper that's still on the roll has many more uses. Aside from the obvious sticking it to walls, you can also wrap presents with it, use the blank side for writing/drawing, not to mention all the craft stuff some people make with decorative papers.

Bry84, I had just heard on the radio that you are not supposed to recycle holiday gift wrap because of all of the colorants and additives. I'm not sure if wallpaper, because of the printed colors, has these sort of additives. Burning it might release a lot of toxins too.

We've used wallpaper for gift wrap! You really need to know the recipient well before wrapping a gift in wallpaper though. :~) I never thought about using the back for drawing. Good idea.

Our local council said not to put gift wrapping paper in the recycle bins as well. They didn't give any reasons, but from the little I know about paper recycling I believe it's mostly because wrapping paper is very thin and contains very little recoverable paper, but it does tend to contain a lot of ink. Excessive ink in the recycling paper discolours the end product and greatly reduces its market value. They do normally bleach it, but the more discolouration the more bleach needed, which is bad for the environment and the cost effectiveness of recycling. I believe the end result is still not pristine white paper either, I think you need either very clean paper or new pulp to make that glow-in-the-dark it's so white typing paper which is all the fashion now...

I,m a wallpaperer and it cannot be recycled, to many toxins.

Pausam, thanks for the definitive answer.

This toxins thing is actually sounding very wrong to me. It doesn't really make sense.

Toxins are poisons of biological origins, which is why there aren't any in wallpaper. But even if there were, why does their being toxins, substances which damage cells - not industrial processes, have any relevance to the recycling potential of the paper.

I have composted old, non vinyl, printed wallpaper that has been stripped off using water and a scraper. I have no idea whether it contained toxins but it went on my vegetable garden about ten years ago and I am still alive.