Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Whenever I go to the pharmacy, I get a stack of receipts—one with a list of the stuff I bought, another with some coupons, and I’m not sure what the other ones are for.
At the grocery store, my receipt is usually more than a foot long! What do we do with all of these slips of paper? It turns out, the answer isn’t as simple as you might think.
Jannah Maguire and Minjun Kim from our Possibly Team have more…
Jannah Maguire: Hey, Megan!
Minjun Kim: Hello!
Megan Hall: So, why are we talking about receipts?
Jannah Maguire: There’s a lot more to them than you might think. Receipts are pretty different from other paper products, and these differences change the way they affect us and the environment.
Minjun Kim: In fact, most receipts actually aren’t even made out of regular paper. They’re printed on something called “thermal paper.”
Jannah Maguire: This thermal paper doesn’t use ink. Instead, it’s coated in chemicals. When those chemicals are exposed to heat, they make the printed text show up.
Megan Hall: Interesting…So receipts aren’t made out of traditional paper…but, what’s the problem with that?
Minjun Kim: The issue lies in those chemicals that coat those receipts. Especially, BPA, which stands for Bisphenol A.
Joseph Braun: and it’s used there as a developer, so that when the ink is developed, the ink doesn’t bleed everywhere.
Jannah Maguire: That’s Joe Braun, a professor of epidemiology in the Brown University School of Public Health and the Director for the Center for Climate, Environment, and Health.
Minjun Kim: He says coming into contact with Bisphenol A can contribute to all sorts of health problems, including increased risk of obesity, diseases like Type Two Diabetes, and issues with brain development
Megan Hall: That sounds pretty bad. Do we have to use BPA for our receipts? Do we have any other, less toxic options?
Jannah Maguire: Well, that’s the thing, after research made it clear the BPA can have all these harmful effects, many manufacturers have switched to a different chemical that does the same thing: bisphenol S or BPS.
Minjun Kim: BPS has been studied way less than BPA and the research that has been done suggests that BPS can have a lot of the same harmful impacts. So the problem hasn’t really gone away.
Jannah Maguire: They’re also used in plastic products, like plastic containers, windows, and even some water bottles.
Minjun Kim: But Joe says receipts are different from these other sources— that’s because they have especially high concentrations of bisphenol, and it’s really easy for them to rub off. Basically BPS isn’t bound to the paper receipts.
Joseph Braun: So it’s very easy for it to leech off, either when people were touching it, or even when it would go, say, to a landfill, and then be subjected to being getting wet and, you know, abraded against other other materials.
Minjun Kim: Some researchers are exploring alternatives, but they’re not very common to find. A survey of chemicals used in receipt paper by major US stores in 2022 found that about 20% had switched to things other than BPA or BPS, but the substitute chemicals also aren’t well researched.
Jannah Maguire: So it’s probably best to pick an electronic receipt and avoid using them altogether.
Megan Hall: What if I can’t avoid getting a receipt? Can I recycle them like regular paper?
Minjun Kim: In general, no. Most facilities can’t even recycle thermal paper because it doesn’t break down the same way typical paper products would.
Jannah Maguire: And more importantly, putting receipts in your recycling bin can contaminate everything else in there with BPA. That could force the plant to throw out an entire load of recycling.
Megan Hall: Wow. I had no idea these tiny receipts could create so many problems!
Minjun Kim: Yeah, we like to think of recycling as a good thing to do, but when it comes to receipts, putting them in the bin does more harm than good.
Megan Hall: So what should I do with them?
Jannah Maguire: The best thing you can do? Just throw them out. Or do your best to sign up for paperless receipts. Especially at places like the pharmacy.
Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Jannah and MinJun!
That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly.”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.
