Do you know where to throw that little piece of paper on which the World Cup stickers are stuck?
In the midst of the 2026 World Cup album fever, the paper that remains after the sticker is detached and glued should not go in the general trash or in the recyclable items that go to traditional selective collection.
Known in the industry as liner, this type of paper is the basis of self-adhesive. It is paper covered with a thin layer of silicone that prevents the sticker’s glue from permanently adhering to the surface, allowing it to be detached and glued to the album.
The problem is that this same characteristic makes recycling difficult. If discarded in common trash, the liner ends up in landfills. If sent for selective collection, it is usually rejected by cooperatives and sorting centers, as most paper recyclers do not have the technology to process it.
“There are small factories that are testing ways to recycle liner. But, today, it is Polpel that can receive liners in volume”, says Fábio Suetugui, advisor to the National Association of Paper Trimmers (Anap).
The company mentioned is Polpel, a recycler from Guarulhos (SP) that claims to operate the only technology in South America capable of transforming liners into cellulose. The process is kept industrial secrecy, but it allows the material to be reused in the manufacture of new paper, such as packaging, cardboard and paper towels.
Until August 10, the company is receiving World Cup sticker liners sent by individuals, schools, condominiums and other organized groups. All income obtained from the sale of cellulose resulting from the recycling of World Cup sticker liners will be donated to GRAACC (Support Group for Adolescents and Children with Cancer).
The initiative was born during the 2022 World Cup, out of domestic unrest.
Graphic designer and environmental manager Patrícia Meirelles de Azeredo Coutinho was accompanying her three children in collecting stickers when she started to get upset about the amount of discarded liners. Her husband, Sérgio Talocchi, senior sustainability manager at Natura, knew that the company was already sending the liners generated by its product labels to Polpel.
The initial idea was simple: collect the material in the condominium and send it along with the waste sent by Natura. Patrícia commented on the proposal in WhatsApp groups at her children’s school and was surprised by the reaction.
“I thought my cell phone had been cloned. Suddenly there were hundreds of messages from people wanting to participate in the initiative”, he recalls.
What would have been a one-off action turned into a national campaign. Schools, companies and families began to organize collection points. With financial support from Panini, the album’s publisher, it was possible to hire a company to collect and forward the collected material.
At the end of the campaign, around 230 kilos of liners — approximately 1 million units — were recycled and transformed back into cellulose.
This year, however, the mobilization takes place without the financial support of the publisher. Wanted by SheetPanini did not respond to questions until the publication of this report.
The campaign depends mainly on voluntary participation. Some schools, such as Oswald de Andrade, Piaget and Elvira Brandão, created collection points open to the community in their units. The Movimento Sobre Nós profile on Instagram publishes new reception locations as they emerge.
Those who cannot find a nearby location can gather the liners and send them directly to Polpel until August 10th. The address is Rua Padre Marcos, 761, CEP 07250-071, in Guarulhos.
For Patrícia, the value of the initiative goes beyond recycling. “The children created competitions, projects and awareness actions. It is an opportunity for environmental education that arises from something present in their daily lives.”
While millions of stickers are glued into World Cup albums, the little paper that remains stops being waste without a destination and becomes part of a recycling chain that started with a simple question: where to throw the paper on which the sticker is glued?
