A newly released Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) paints a positive picture of the environmental performance of a U.S. industry-average corrugated box from raw material extraction through end of life.
The corrugated packaging industry has substantially reduced its environmental impact since its first Life Cycle Assessment in 2006. New data reveals the industry’s progress:
Several continuous improvements have reduced the industry’s GHG emissions.
Trees Play a Role
Grocers and Shoppers Play a Part
Discover the secrets of the renewability, recyclability and responsibility of boxes — and how you can play a role in the circular supply chain.
Corrugated Packaging Industry: Striding Toward Sustainability Goals
See the impact the corrugated packaging industry is making, and how grocery retailers and their customers are helping the industry achieve its sustainability goals.
Key Steps = Big Strides
A steady uptick in recycling old corrugated containers (OCC) also has helped — because keeping used boxes out of landfills reduces both carbon dioxide and methane emissions.
The recovery rate is up from 72% in 2006, to a three-year average of 90+% in 2019-2021.
Trees contribute to the corrugated industry’s environmental performance and help fulfill its commitment to sustainability and a circular supply chain. Here’s how:
Trees grown in sustainably managed forests in the United States are used to supply wood fiber to the containerboard mills that make paper for corrugated boxes.
As those trees grow, they capture carbon out of the atmosphere, cleaning the air and helping mitigate climate change.
And because the industry plants more trees than it harvests...
By planting trees to produce containerboard, the industry removed an equivalent 83.5% of its 2020 CO2 and other GHG emissions from the atmosphere.
The U.S. corrugated packaging industry relies on a balanced system that combines new and recycled fibers to produce a consistent and sustainable supply of corrugated containers. It couldn’t do that successfully without the grocery industry and the consumers who shop your stores. Here’s why:
Those containers carry products through supply chains to the backrooms and shelves in YOUR STORES.
When you and YOUR CUSTOMERS recycle, you become part of that circular supply chain.
Corrugated packaging comes full circle every day. From efficient use of managed forest lands to sustainable manufacturing practices and high recycling rates that return fiber into the system, corrugated packaging is truly circular by nature.
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1 2020 Life Cycle Assessment of U.S. Average Corrugated Product, July 2023; prepared for the Corrugated Packaging Alliance (CPA) by the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. and Anthesis
2 American Forest & Paper Association
The U.S. corrugated packaging industry
reduced the per unit greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG) by 50% between 2006 and 2020.
Those numbers show how significant — and consequential — the industry’s efforts have been!
Other indicators have been substantially reduced, too:
Ozone depletion
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...it is helping ensure the health of the forests and a perpetual source of fiber.
Smog
Acid rain
Eutrophication
Respiratory effects
Energy usage
Water usage
-13%
-44%
-41%
-30%
-54%
-13%
-18%
A shift to cleaner-burning fuels
Increased participation in a greener
U.S. electricity grid
Improved energy efficiencies at mills and converting facilities
1
Fuels
2
Greener Grid
3
Efficiencies
Explore the findings
2
1
1
2006
2020
GROCERS
Those containers carry products through supply chains to the backrooms and shelves in YOUR STORES.
CONSUMERS