Americans often associate recycling with plastic, metal, or aluminum, but not too many consumers think about the value of reusing cardboard and corrugated material. It is a readily available material that benefits American manufacturing business owners and operators. More importantly, recycling cardboard reduces the amount of waste that ends up in local landfills. Here are three ways that recycling cardboard saves the planet and reduces your carbon footprint.
Commercial Cardboard Uses
While you see products individually sitting on shelves, manufacturers package and distribute them to companies in cardboard boxes. It contributes significantly to a company’s carbon footprint. Recycling cardboard, which is made of tree pulp, will substantially affect the sustainability of natural resources long-term. Corrugated boxes are shaped to stack in warehouses and transport manufacturing goods. It is also easy to break down and store them until they can be recycled. One tractor-trailer can house as much as 20 tons of old corrugated material.
By recycling cardboard, whether you are a company or consumer, you can make a substantial environmental influence by ensuring that corrugated boxes, which makes up about half of a company’s waste stream, reduces commercial liability on trees. It also promotes recycling efforts for the reuse of materials by big-box retail distribution centers, e-commerce chains, and grocery stores. Most notably, under the Massachusetts Waste Bans, the disposal of cardboard and paper products is prohibited, so it is ideal for commerce, consumers, the community, and the planet.
How Does ABH Services Recycle Cardboard?
Our staff at ABH works directly with companies and consumers to recycle cardboard and any other front and back-office materials. After we collect the recyclables, we bring them to our recycling center where we sort, prepare, bundle, and bale them. We then ship the cardboard to paper mills where workers inspect, pulp, roll, corrugate, glue, and cut out new cardboard. When the process is complete, the new cardboard is dispersed in the marketplace for redistribution.
- It Saves Trees
Did you know that to make one ton of cardboard, it requires cutting down as many as 17 mature trees? Recycling can occur as many as seven times, so this life cycle will potentially save as many as 85 trees during the commercial redistribution process.
- It Cuts CO2 And Greenhouse Emissions
Trees absorb carbon dioxide to create clean air. When they get cut, it increases the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. It requires much energy to make paper products from pulp, so much so that it makes an enormous difference during the recycling process as it reduces energy consumption, sulfur dioxide, and air pollution forecasts by about 60%.
- It Doesn’t End Up In Landfills
Paper products represent the majority of products in landfills. A cardboard box of milk has a short lifespan, yet these containers sit in landfills for fifteen years. Recycling frees up landfill space and allows companies to reuse the cardboard for a longer life span.
Cardboard is a highly recyclable material. The paper processing practices and consumer purchasing behaviors save the planet. Call (781) 941-2422 or visit us on our Facebook page.