We all chuck cardboard in the recycling and hope for the best, but what actually happens next? Cardboard packaging goes on quite a journey after bin day, and it’s a lot more interesting than you might think. Here’s the process broken down below – as your boxes should be.
Step one: collection and sorting
Once your recycling is collected, cardboard packaging is taken to a materials recovery facility. Here it’s separated from plastics, glass and metals. Big machines and scanners do most of the heavy lifting, with humans keeping an eye on things.
Step two: shredding and pulping
Next, the cardboard is shredded and mixed with warm water to create a pulpy soup. This breaks the fibres down and removes things like glue and staples. It’s messy, but effective.
Step three: cleaning the fibres
The pulp is cleaned and filtered to remove inks and leftover contaminants. According to guidance from WRAP, the UK’s waste and resources charity, this process allows paper and cardboard fibres to be reused multiple times.
Step four: drying and rolling
The clean pulp is spread out, pressed and dried into large sheets. These are rolled up and sent off to manufacturers, ready to become new cardboard packaging.
Step five: back into everyday use
Recycled fibres are turned into boxes, cartons and protective packaging. Many businesses now choose sustainable solutions like capscases.co.uk/services-2/sustainable-cardboard-packaging to keep materials in use for longer.
The recycling process isn’t magic, but it’s pretty close. Now that you know the process, you can feel more motivated about recycling your next delivery boxes.
