Cardboard Recycling for Businesses: How to Do It Right

For most shops, restaurants and warehouses, cardboard is the biggest single thing that comes through the door and has to leave again. Every delivery arrives in it. Left in the garbage, boxes take up a huge share of the bin while weighing very little, so you end up paying to haul air.

Corrugated cardboard is also one of the most recyclable materials there is. The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that in the United States, corrugated boxes had a recycling rate of 96.5% in 2018, far ahead of other paper packaging, which came in at 20.8%. It's material worth recovering, as long as it arrives clean and dry.

Why cardboard should have its own bin

• It keeps your garbage bin for garbage. Pulling cardboard out frees up space, which can mean a smaller garbage bin or fewer pickups.
• It protects the cardboard. Mixed in with food scraps, liquids and grease, cardboard stops being recyclable.
• Some regions require it. Metro Vancouver lists corrugated cardboard as a banned recyclable material at its disposal facilities, and loads containing banned recyclables pay a surcharge of 50% of the tipping fee on the entire load. Rules differ from place to place, but the direction is clear.
• It's easier to manage. A dedicated bin makes it obvious to staff where boxes go.

Flatten every box

A box that goes in whole is mostly empty space, and a few of them can fill a bin in a day. Break boxes down flat before they go in: cut or pull the tape along the bottom seam, fold the flaps out and press them flat. Take out what's inside first, including packing peanuts, foam, bubble wrap, plastic bags and air pillows, because none of those are cardboard.

Flattening does more than save space. Whole boxes jam in the opening, keep lids from closing, and end up stacked beside the bin, where they get wet and blow around. A cardboard slot on a front-load bin lets staff feed flat cardboard in without opening the lid, which keeps rain and animals out and stops people tossing in bags of garbage.

Keep it dry, especially on the coast

Wet cardboard is heavy, weak and messy to handle, and a bin full of soaked board is a different material from a bin full of dry board. On the North Coast, where rain falls most days of the year, the lid is the most important part of a cardboard bin. Keep it closed, flatten boxes inside where you can, and bring them out in batches rather than leaving a stack by the back door to soak through.

Keep it clean: what contaminates cardboard

Recycle BC's guidance on paper and cardboard packaging, written for household collection, is a good starting point for any business. It accepts corrugated cardboard boxes and boxboard, and singles out the materials that cause trouble:

• Wax-coated boxes. Recycle BC doesn't accept cardboard boxes with a wax coating, such as the waxed produce and grocery boxes common in food businesses.
• Greasy or food-soiled board. Recycle BC says greasy or dirty paper and cardboard food containers shouldn't go in. Pizza boxes can only be included if they're mostly clean.
• Foil and plastic layers. Multi-layer paper bags lined with foil or plastic, and padded envelopes with a plastic or bubble layer, are not accepted because the materials can't be separated.
• Everything that isn't cardboard. Plastic film, foam, strapping and garbage bags thrown in with the boxes all have to be picked out later, and too much of it can spoil a load.

These are general rules for paper recycling in BC, not a full list for any one bin. Ask us what our cardboard bins take before you set up a new stream, such as boxboard from a store's shelf-ready packaging.

Setting up a cardboard program

1. Pick the size. Our cardboard bins come in 3, 4 and 6 cubic yards, the same sizes as our general waste bins. Choose one that holds a full cycle of flattened cardboard between pickups.
2. Put it where the boxes are. The best spot is close to the receiving door or stockroom, so flattening and recycling happen in one trip.
3. Choose the options. A cardboard slot, metal or plastic lids, and casters if the bin has to be moved. Padlocks and lock bars keep other people's garbage out of a bin you pay for.
4. Tell your staff. A sign on the bin and a quick word with new hires covers most of it: flat, dry, clean, and nothing that isn't cardboard.
5. Check it now and then. A look inside before pickup will show whether bags or waxed boxes are creeping in.

Common mistakes that spoil a cardboard bin

• Cardboard in plastic bags. Bagging flattened boxes defeats the purpose: the bag has to be torn open and thrown away. Put cardboard in loose.
• Boxes stacked beside the bin. When the bin is full, the overflow gets left on the ground, where it soaks up rain and blows across the lot. If that happens often, the bin is too small or isn't emptied often enough.
• Garbage when the other bin is full. One bag of food waste in a cardboard bin can soil everything around it. Locking the cardboard bin, or using a slot, stops this.
• Lids left open. A propped-open lid lets in rain, gulls and anything else looking for a meal.

Cardboard recycling with Big Dog

Recycling cardboard is part of what Big Dog does, along with wood and steel. Our cardboard recycling service uses front-load bins, with the cardboard slot available, for businesses in Prince Rupert and across the North Coast. Pair it with a general waste bin and, if bears or ravens visit your lot, bear-proof lids. Call 778-884-8484, email bigdogdisposal@outlook.com, or request a quote and tell us roughly how many boxes you go through in a week.