Corrugated recycling begins at the store, where used, empty boxes are compacted and baled for collection.
From Forest to Store:
Corrugated boxes are staple packaging products that grocery retailers rely on. And the corrugated packaging industry relies on your store and your customers to recycle that packaging so it can continue making more boxes, too. It’s all part of a circular journey with many steps along the way.
Come along to learn how trees become boxes that are recycled to become new boxes once again.
Certified foresters and loggers harvest just enough trees, raised on private land using sustainable forestry practices, to make paper-based products, including corrugated boxes.
Harvested trees and recycled boxes are processed into rolls of paper called containerboard.
Boxes come into stores loaded with products, which are un-boxed and put on shelves.
Recycled boxes are placed in a repulper with water to form a slushy pulp.
And the journey begins again…
To learn more about how recycling boxes can make
your store part of the sustainable, circular supply chain, visit www.fibrebox.org
Sources: 1 2020 life cycle assessment of U.S. average corrugated product
Sustainably Managed Forests
The Paper Mill
Your Store
Recycling Sites
Back to the Paper Mill
The Recycling Journey of Corrugated Packaging
Your Store
Recycling Stations
Sustainably Managed Forests
The Paper Mill
Grocery Manufacturers and Suppliers
Contaminants are removed, and
the clean pulp goes to a paper
machine where it is turned into spools
of paper that are shipped to corrugated box manufacturers.
Most corrugated boxes include recycled content.
Grocers, industry and households have been recycling boxes for decades, making corrugated the most recycled packaging material on earth.
Successful, year-after-year recycling keeps used boxes out of landfills, reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions that would be released into the atmosphere.1
When you recycle, you’re helping to build a circular, sustainable supply chain that is great for the environment and your business, too.
Rolls of paper are made into sheets by combining three layers of paper. The middle layer, in a wavy configuration, is called medium, and the formed arches are called flutes, which absorb impact and provide the right amount of rigidity for the boxes that are shipped to and from your business.
For each tree harvested,
three more are planted
to take its place.
More than 1 billion new trees are planted every day in the U.S.!
The Paper Mill
Sustainably Managed Forests
Your Store
Recycling Sites
Back to the Paper Mill
From Forest to Store:
The Recycling Journey of Corrugated Packaging
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And the journey begins again…
www.fibrebox.org
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The Box Plant
The Box Plant
A box plant is a facility that produces corrugated boxes by converting sheets of corrugated material into finished products. Box plants have corrugators and finishing equipment, and can produce a variety of boxes, including brown corrugated boxes, die-cut boxes, and printed boxes. .
Corrugated boxes are made from a renewable resource, and can be recycled at the end of their life.
Containerboard mills receive wood chips, used boxes or a combination of both to make paper.
Corrugated packaging both insulates and cushions, which helps protect fragile or heavy contents.
Corrugated packaging is lightweight, which can lower shipping costs.
Corrugated packaging can help drive brand awareness and product preference.
The
Box Plant
Boxes come into stores, loaded with product, ready to be un-boxed and put on shelves. Products arrive in good condition because they are shipped in corrugated, reducing shrink for the retailer.
Thanks to the quality of the corrugated cardboard packaging they arrive in, shrink is reduced — which is a bottom-line benefit for your store.
The bales are sent to materials recovery facilities, sorted and returned to paper mills as new feedstock.
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Product Manufacturers and Grocery Suppliers
Product Manufacturers and Grocery Suppliers
Corrugated boxes are then used by product manufacturers and suppliers to securely package and safely transport their goods to retail outlets.
