We have some good news to share this week!
Since the COVID-19 problems started, people have been buying more and more of their needs online. That has meant an ever-increasing need for cardboard boxes. Those can become a big problem if they are just dumped, of course, but it can also be seen as a plus when we recycle. The corrugated packaging industry has become dependent on consumers to recycle the products to support its financial and environmental needs.
The much-increased demand for cardboard cartons translates into a much-increased demand for recycled paper as well, especially recycled cardboard. E-commerce has seen, by some industry estimates, more than twice its average annual growth rate since the pandemic began. The corrugated box industry is scrambling to keep up. Paper mills are running at full speed, and some are even having to restrict shipments.
Cardboard is certainly more biodegradable than plastic packaging, but its production is linked to deforestation and heavy chemical use by paperboard mills. To combat that issue, according to the Environmental Paper Network, the industry relies on recycling virgin fiber five to seven times, saving trees and improving the bottom line, since recycled fiber is also still much less costly than starting with virgin fiber.
One of the largest cardboard manufacturers has recently invested more than $2 million in its recycling plant in order to be able to re-use recycled cardboard products. They are also taking steps to reduce excessive sizes of boxes being shipped. That also, by extension, reduces the amount of internal packaging that’s required to fill the space around the products being shipped, while still ensuring better protection for those items.
Fortunately, the ability of consumers to recycle cardboard has also greatly increased through the kinds of zero sort recycling programs we enjoy locally. It also means that the value of the recycled cardboard has increased, so we are effectively charged less for it than for other recycling commodities. We pay for the recycling to be collected and sorted, but we also get a small rebate on each ton, based on the value of the collected material in the marketplace. A higher price paid by the re-processors means a slightly larger rebate to the town, so a lower net cost to the town for recycling the commodity.
On a larger scale, the amount of corrugated fiber we used to export has declined dramatically since China changed its policies, so domestic manufacturers and re-processors have had to step up and process more material domestically. It’s something that’s happening with other recycled commodities as well, but none more dramatically than with recycled cardboard.
That’s not the end of the story, nor does it lessen the need for vigilance and dedication to all of our recycling programs, but it is a bright light in the gloom.
The Recycle Bin is a weekly column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee.
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