Boxes For Reuse :: Research


	Research Here we will continue to collect articles and information about reuse and recycling. Sign up for our newsletter to receive important updates, news, and specials. Articles It's Not Easy Being Corrugated (Libby Lowe) Reuse Vs. Recycling (Miranda DuPont)

	It’s Not Easy Being Corrugated Reuse breathes new life into cardboard boxes The world is being painted green one industry at a time. There are government incentives for people to turn in old cars for hybrids, a boom in green cleaning supplies (for homes, clothes, you name it) and intense interest in organic farming—it seems that even broccoli is greener than it was a few years ago. And the corrugated cardboard industry is no exception. There’s a lot of chatter out there about making greener boxes. But what does greener cardboard mean exactly?
	Cardboard boxes, generally speaking, have three fates: some are tossed in the trash after one use, others are recycled (or at least put into a blue bin with good intentions… But more on that later) and some are reused. But of those options, what’s best for the environment and for your wallet? “Nothing is easy when it comes to reuse of a corrugated box,” says Dave Carlson, Technical & Environmental Manager for the Fibre Box Association—a non-profit bringing together the industry’s North American manufacturers to improve the well-being of the industry and enable member companies to be more efficient and environmentally responsible. Booming Boxes Corrugated cardboard boxes are everywhere we look—they are used to ship goods between manufactures and suppliers, between suppliers and retailers and between retailers and consumers. And between 2000 and 2005, American consumption of cardboard was up about 1.5 percent annually. US demand for corrugated and paperboard boxes is expected to rise 2.5% annually for the next three years, reaching nearly $41 billion by 2012.
	The world market for corrugated boxes is also on the rise and forecasted to increase 3.4% between 2008-2013—even in this shaky economy. To meet the demand, we’re going to need more boxes. We can manufacture new ones, recycle old ones or reuse existing ones. Is New Really New? Tisha Petteway, Press Officer with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), points out that corrugated cardboard boxes, by definition, are made out of recycled content. While the percentage of post-consumer content varies between 35 and 100%, new boxes are actually recycled content boxes. “When it comes to the number of trees it takes to produce a ton of corrugated boxes, any figure quoted is of dubious origin,” adds Carlson. He reports that approximately 43% of linerboard and corrugating medium come from recycled fiber while 57% come from virgin fiber. But that too could be a misleading figure. “Much of the fiber used to produce virgin containerboard comes from wood chips that are a by-product from the wood products industry, not from whole trees. These wood chips would be burned or land filled if they were not used to make paper,” he says. Recycling—A New Beginning? With more than 78% of corrugated products being collected for recycling, according to the Fibre Box Association, it appears that most people agree simply landfilling old boxes to make new ones isn’t the most economical or environmentally responsible way to meet increasing demand. Of the used corrugated that is collected, approximately 60% goes into making new boxes, 20% is used to make other paper products (primarily folding carton stock, the type of paperboard used to make cereal boxes). The remaining 20% is exported—mostly to China, which uses fuel and also has an environmental impact. All of the processes, while far better than tossing a box in a landfill, negatively impact the environment. Then there’s the issue of intent versus reality. Most people order a book from Amazon and toss the box in a blue bin, assuming that they started it on its journey to becoming a Corn Flakes box. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some of the ink used to print on the boxes, the tape used to secure them or the paste used on the mailing label render the box unrecyclable unless removed. Many people don’t know how to properly prepare a box for recycling—and it’s unclear whether all city recycling plants make the effort to remove tape and labels once the boxes are in their hands. Corrugated cardboard became as popular as it is because of its sturdiness. But, as boxes get recycled and re-recycled and re-recycled, the fibers eventually break down too much to be made into new boxes. “Repeated recycling of cellulose fiber causes them to become shorter. After going through the recycling process 5-7 times, these fibers become something like sludge. They are too short to make paper and must be land filled. Thus, there will always be a need for some level of virgin fiber to be used in the total tons of raw material that goes into making containerboard,” Carlson says. In a way, he adds, no trees are saved when boxes are constructed from 100% recycled fiber; some virgin fibers always will be necessary. And the energy to turn them into boxes will continue to be expended. Petteway points out that the recycling process itself produces greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts, so reusing boxes is a great way to lessen the impact. Reuse, ‘Til You Use Them Up Reusing has been going on since before recycling had a name and a logo. Reusing can be fun—think back to the refrigerator box that doubled as a fort—it can be practical—how many times have we moved using empty boxes collected from the liquor store—and it is environmentally friendly. True, reusing does have some environmental impact, there’s not much we do that doesn’t. But there’s some great news from the EPA about the benefits of reuse. Reusing one ton of corrugated cardboard boxes saves the equivalent of CO2 emissions from 681 gallons of gasoline. “The benefit of reusing (source reduction) one ton of corrugate boxes, rather than landfilling them is 6 MTCO2e. We use the term source reduction here because reusing corrugated cardboard boxes would be reducing the need for more cardboard boxes to be made,” says Petteway. Reusing one ton of boxes equals the carbon sequestered by 154 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. 6 MTCO2e is defined as the equivalent to the CO2 emissions from 681 gallons of gasoline consumed or the carbon sequestered by 154 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. Many people shorten this to 'trees saved,’ but the longer term is correct, says Petteway. Impressive findings—and there is more news on the horizon. Later this year, the Fibre Box Association will release its Life Cycle Analysis study. Watch for more information about these issues and more.