Derbyshire County Council has teamed up with district and borough councils across the county to encourage residents to recycle more.
According to the authority, last year Derbyshire residents generated 350,000 tonnes of rubbish with 90,000 tonnes being composted.
A further 60,000 tonnes was recycled - including 20,000 tonnes of paper.
But the council said that 10,000 tonnes of paper which could have been recycled was still thrown into householders’ non-recycling bins ready to send to landfill - enough to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Now the councils have joined forces to launch a campaign reminding local residents how easy it is to recycle their paper and which types of paper they can recycle.
All district and borough councils across Derbyshire collect a wide range of paper for recycling from outside people’s homes including brochures, catalogues, junk mail, directories, newspapers and magazines.
Some also collect other types of paper, including envelopes, shredded paper, wrapping paper and brown paper.
Councillor John Allsop, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Technology and Recycling, said: “With so many types of rubbish to recycle these days, it’s easy to forget what can and can’t be recycled.
“But if every household in Derbyshire recycled just one catalogue or phone book, we could stop more than 600 tonnes of paper going into landfill.
“We currently send around 216,000 tonnes of rubbish to landfill every year which is bad for the environment, wastes materials which could be used and costs tax-payers money.
“And with the cost of landfill rising every year it’s going to be more expensive in the future.”
Visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/paper and follow the link to your district or borough council to find out exactly what paper it collects for recycling.