April 13, 2014 – 9 Days until Earth Day…
Recycling one ton of cardboard saves over nine cubic yards of landfill space
Cardboard has many uses, the most prevalent of which is to package and ship items. People use cardboard to ship 90 percent of all products in the United States. With only 25 percent of paper and cardboard being recycled, the other 75 percent ends up in the landfill. Cardboard that is moved to landfills takes up space for years until it fully breaks down. Cardboard that is incinerated releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases can contribute to climate change, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Cardboard and paper waste makes up 41 percent of the municipal solid waste stream and cardboard alone represents 18 percent of landfill waste.
Production
Producing one ton of cardboard uses the following resources:
- 79 gallons of oil
- 7,000 gallons of water
- 42,000 kilowatts of energy
Cardboard is made from trees. It takes 17 trees to produce one ton of cardboard. These trees must first be cut down, destroying fragile ecosystems along with its inhabitants. Processing the pulp and creating boxes also release sulfur dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide dissolves in water vapor and is released into the atmosphere, where it joins with other gases to create sulfates. When too many are in the air, sulfates can be harmful to people and their environment.
Recycle
Recycling one ton of cardboard:
- Saves 46 gallons (1.1 barrels) of oil
- Saves 390 kilowatt hours of electricity
- Saves 6.6 million Btu’s of energy
Cardboard is made from paper and is easy to recycle. Recycling corrugated cardboard cuts the emissions of sulfur dioxide in half and uses about 25 percent less energy than making cardboard from virgin pulp. Clean, dry corrugated cardboard products can be recycled into new cardboard items. This process releases a very small amount of pollutants compared with making new cardboard.
Cardboard Recycling Tips:
- Prepare cardboard for recycling by removing all other materials in the box such as plastic wrap, polystyrene peanuts and other packing materials.
- Break down and flatten cardboard boxes to save storage space. Boxes that aren’t fully flattened are much more difficult to transport and present problems for mechanisms in the cardboard recycling process.
- Most cardboard is recyclable, but there are a few exceptions. Greasy or otherwise soiled cardboard are not recyclable, so it is not possible to recycle pizza boxes. Try to keep cardboard dry and free from food waste. Wet cardboard can clog the automated sorting machines that are used at most recycling and sorting facilities. Throw wet cardboard in the trash to avoid contaminating an entire recycling load.
See if your local recycling program will recycle waxed cardboard (milk and juice cartons) at the curbside. If not, your community may have a drop-off center for waxed cardboard. Call (800)CLEANUP for state recycling information.
Call the Corrugated Packaging Council for more information about recycling corrugated cardboard in your area at (800)879-9777.
Reuse
Even better than recycling it is to reuse cardboard products as many times as possible, as it is a fairly solid material. Not only does this keep it out of the landfill, it saves energy and emissions that are used to construct the boxes in the first place as well as when it goes back through the recycling process. You can donate boxes that you cannot use yourself to someone who is moving or take the cardboard boxes to your local supermarket as most will accept them.
Ripping or shredding a piece of cardboard and mixing these pieces with viable soil will result in much faster biodegradation. In more typical garden conditions–when a piece of cardboard is used as mulch, or specifically shredded and soaked to decompose efficiently biodegradation occurs quickly, with the majority of cardboard completely broken down within three months. The more surface area the cardboard has exposed to water and biological decomposers, the more efficiently these decomposers can take the cardboard apart.
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