Got Scrap Cardboard? Get 48% More Than Typical Scrap Cardboard Prices.

Cardboard is a convenient and cheap packing material. More than 85% of shipments through the postal service are packaged in cardboard. Cardboard is used to protect everything from small boxes for toys to huge cardboard boxes used for refrigerators and everything in between. We even use it to package dry goods and food. But what should we do with scrap cardboard?

Toss It Away Like Regular Garbage
Cardboard, just like paper, is made from pulp, which comes from trees. A tree was cut down to make your cardboard box. Discarded cardboard takes up a lot of space in our landfills. This is a serious problem in most large cities. We actually pay extra tax just to have our garbage disposed of properly. Unlike plastics, cardboard in landfills decomposes and produces methane gas which is 21 times more toxic to our environment as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Participate in a Recycling Program
For starters, we won’t need to cut down so many trees to make cardboard. Since we won’t be throwing them into the landfill, we are giving them a second and even a third life. This helps, in a small way, to keep our landfills from being choked up with even more garbage. However, collected used cardboard and paper in the United States is exported; nearly 40% of these pulp bales are exported to China. At the port in Long Beach, California, it is the single largest export. The Chinese have an extreme shortage of pulp and are willing to pay to transport our used cardboard. But when you think about it, that’s not a very green solution.

Find a Re-Use Program
Did you know that many businesses have found that purchasing used boxes for their internal distribution process is significantly more cost effective. In other words, there’s a market for your used cardboard boxes, ranging from small custom boxes to gaylords. If your business produces a truckload or more of scrap cardboard, this is going to be a great option for you. Not only is it a more pure form of recycling (nothing is getting shipped overseas; no energy required to convert the cardboard back into pulp, then back into a box), it can reduce steps in your scrap removal process. For example, you can reduce or eliminate the need to bale your scrap. That has the added benefit of freeing up warehouse workers to do other, revenue producing activities. If you stop using a baling machine, you’ll save on required maintenance and consumables, like baling wire as well. But the biggest reason is you’ll get paid significantly more for your used cardboard boxes. Not just a little, a lot. On average, you’ll receive 65% more than traditional recyclers would pay for that same material (at Boxsmart, you’re likely to get 48% more than typical scrap cardboard prices). If you produce a lot of scrap cardboard, that could be enough to purchase new forklifts or invest in something else that is more likely to bring return on that investment.