Recycling Articles : Recycling Cardboard

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Cardboard is perhaps the biggest culprit as far as over-packaging is concerned. The vast majority of packaging is made from cardboard with nearly every product that we buy being boxed in it. Some of the reasons for this is that it is light, sturdy and cheap - perfect for packaging as far as most businesses are concerned. Therefore, on the one hand, massive use of cardboard packaging is probably here to stay but on the other hand, cardboard is one of the most recyclable materials we know of.

Just to prove the extent to which cardboard effects us all, the UK produces 8 million tons of it per year which, on average, would mean 140 large cardboard boxes for each person in the country. Worldwide, cardboard is the single largest contributor to solid municipal waste.

Since cardboard is made from biological fibres, like paper, it is bio-degradable and there are few direct consequences in dumping it back into the ground afterwards.

However, constant high demand for cardboard, unless recycled, would mean the expansion of sterile, single-species forests and therefore the destruction of many natural woodland habitats around the world. Also, a lot of cardboard is coated in plastic and with harmful inks that make it harmful to dump.

The recycling process for cardboard is simply the reversal of how it is made; the cardboard is soaked and stirred to disintegrate the fibres and then converted back into pulp for making new cardboard. Any one set of cardboard fibres can be recycled up to five times before the process disintegrates them completely although recycling our cardboard still certainly decreases demand for new tree harvesting.

As with all packaging, the best advice regarding cardboard is to reduce its consumption as best possible. Try buying products that use less packaging and the “spending power” of your decision to buy more eco-friendly products can create strong pressure for manufacturers and suppliers to reduce their packaging. Cardboard that has been sourced from recycled pulp will usualy display a “recycled cardboard” logo and, of course, this is worth looking out for.

Many local authorities now offer a doorstep recycling service for their constituents with different boxes availablefor different sorts of cardboard waste.

Cardboard without the plastic coating or the inks is usable for composting and when a layer of cardboard is added to the pile,it can help air to circulate. Other uses for cardboard include animal bedding, cavity insulation and even, occassionally, biodegradable coffins. Hopefully, governments will soon also begin to realise the use of cardboard as a fuel, giving off twice as much energy as other wastes, and substitute more harmful fossil fuels for this cheap, non-toxic substance.

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