Well you can. The paper from these telephone books, once manufactured from timber, is, with the help of science being turned back into timber.

For years a company called Equinox have been successfully pulping telephone books to make cat litter. Then they had an idea. What if they combined the pulped books with discarded plastic bottles, to make a stronger substance.

So they asked CSIRO to develop a technique of combining the pulped waste paper with waste plastic. Making a mixture that could be extruded into hard pellets.

"Equinox came to us because of our vast experience in research into wood fibres. Jointly we developed the environmentally friendly kitty litter and this has lead onto the new material using the same sort of technology and a resource which would otherwise end up on the local tip."

The result is a timber substitute, as tough and durable as the real thing. It's waterproof, relatively free from defects and can be recycled.

This product, which can be made from virtually any thermoplastic material and waste paper, can be used in the same way as a plank of wood, giving a whole new meaning to the word.... recycling.