From Landfill to Shelf: The Circular Journey of Recycled Cardboard Packaging
By Lou Farrell
From online shopping to grocery stores, cardboard boxes take up a lot of real estate in the average person’s life as well as the larger environment. Thankfully, cardboard can be recycled multiple times into packaging.
The circular economy promotes keeping products usable for as long as possible, in contrast to the take-make-dispose model. With cardboard, this often means transforming it into recycled packaging material. Explore the journey of the cardboard box, from the part you play in recycling to the creation of new products.
The Initial Journey: Collection and Sorting
When it isn’t recycled, cardboard ends up in landfills, increasing pollution and releasing greenhouse gases during decomposition. The energy and materials used to initially produce the cardboard also go to waste, putting a strain on already precious resources. Early decisions in the cardboard recycling journey have a significant impact on combating these issues and reducing their contribution to climate change.
From Consumer to Collection
Beyond separating recycling and landfill waste, consumers play an active role in the circular life cycle of cardboard. Breaking down boxes, keeping them dry, and avoiding common contaminants, like grease or wax-coated cardboard, helps ensure the material is on the right path for successful recycling.
Consider the collection methods available to you: 79% of Americans have access to residential curbside recycling programs, and 94% have community paper recycling programs.
The Sorting Process
Getting the cardboard to a recycling facility, rather than a landfill, is key. This is because sending less secondary fiber to landfills minimizes negative environmental impacts. Once the cardboard arrives at a materials recovery facility, professionals sort it from other recyclables, like plastic and glass, and by grade and quality.
While manual labor is key to the sorting process, many modern facilities also use advanced technologies, such as optical sorters, to enhance operations.
The Transformation: Processing and Remanufacturing
The transformation of old cardboard into new raw material is at the heart of the recycling process.
Shredding and Pulping
The now-sorted cardboard is shredded into small pieces and mixed with water to create pulp. This process uses a larger pulper to break the material into fibers.
Cleaning and De-Inking
Next, remove inks, staples, tape, and other contaminants from the pulp. This purification step is essential to producing high-quality products from the material.
Drying and Rolling
Once the pulp is clean, it is dried and pressed into a continuous sheet of new paperboard. That sheet then gets rolled into large reels. This is the moment when the recycled fibers align to become a new, usable material.
The Rebirth: Closing the Loop
In this phase of its circular journey, the recycled material reenters the consumer market as new products. However, because cardboard can be recycled multiple times, this cycle — from the start of the journey through the rebirth phase — can be repeated, keeping the material in use and in the circular economy for as long as possible.
Conversion to New Products
The reels of new paperboard are sent to manufacturers, who use them to create packaging for products, including cereal boxes, egg cartons, and more. This step is where the business-to-business side begins to take effect, as recycling facilities and manufacturing companies collaborate as key players in the circular economy.
Refilling Shelves
These new products return to shelves and reach consumers, where they will again become part of daily life. The loop closes here but also begins anew, as people re-recycle cardboard boxes and other appropriate items.
The Environmental and Economic Benefits of Recycled Cardboard Packaging
In the United States, around 56% of paper and cardboard waste ends up in landfills each year. Recycled cardboard packaging and its role in the circular economy can help prevent this issue and provide the following benefits:
> Resource conservation: Recycling cardboard saves trees, water, and energy compared with producing cardboard from virgin materials.
> Reduced landfill waste: Supporting circularity through recycling cardboard keeps it out of landfills, where it occupies significant space and emits greenhouse gases, such as methane, that contribute to landfill emissions and exacerbate climate change.
> Energy savings and reduced emissions: Manufacturing with recycled materials requires less energy than manufacturing with virgin materials, thereby reducing emissions.
> Job creation: The recycling industry creates new jobs in collection, sorting, processing, and manufacturing.
In addition to these benefits, individuals can gain a sense of purpose from taking an active role in protecting the environment. Many modern consumers prioritize sustainability in their purchasing decisions. Therefore, the circular economy helps meet customer demand, drive loyalty for eco-friendly products, and create more satisfying customer-brand relationships.
Challenges and Solutions in the Circular Path of Recycled Cardboard
While there are numerous benefits to recycling cardboard, being aware of the challenges is also important and can lead to more successful initiatives.
One of the main challenges is contamination from the outset. Food waste, grease, and other non-recyclable materials can ruin a batch of otherwise quality cardboard.
Similarly, many people engage in wishcycling—placing non-recyclable items in the recycling bin, hoping they will be recycled. While this often comes with good intentions, non-recyclable items can contaminate an entire stream, rendering it ineligible for recycling. Households can do their part by avoiding the introduction of contaminants into their recycling collection.
Waxed and coated cardboard also poses a problem. These materials are typically not recyclable because the coatings can make it more difficult or impossible to break down paper fibers during the shredding and pulping stages of recycled cardboard’s journey. Consumers should avoid placing waxed or coated cardboard in their recycling bin. Companies can also do their part by avoiding these materials in their packaging when possible.
Sorting at recycling facilities requires significant human labor. However, technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence-powered robotics and advanced optical scanners, can accurately and quickly sort materials and support recycling professionals, reducing their workload and freeing them to focus on more critical tasks, such as optimizing essential processes.
The Future Is Circular
The journey of a cardboard box is a real-world example of the circular economy in action. Conscious consumers, recycling facilities, and responsible manufacturers power the cycle when they work together. By transforming waste into a valuable resource, this process conserves vital natural resources, like trees and water, reduces landfill emissions, and energizes the economy.
While challenges such as contamination persist, greater consumer education, corporate commitment to sustainable packaging, and the adoption of advanced sorting technologies can have a significant impact. The next time you break down a box and dispose of it properly, you are voting for a more sustainable future.
Lou Farrell
Lou is the Senior Editor of sustainability and technology for Revolutionized Magazine. He has
over 4 years of experience crafting compelling articles on a variety of topics, from energy
efficiency trends to eco-friendly construction. He loves to write, and is passionate about sharing
his knowledge with others.