Recycling Cardboard: Looks easy, but is it really?

Hello again my recyclers!!

In this world of continuous e-commerce one of the most common materials we encounter around houses and trash bins is cardboard. You don't have to do a lot of effort to see boxes everywhere, and like any other recyclable material it needs to go over a decent number of steps before it can be recycle.

Now, the question is: Do you really know how to recycle cardboard boxes? Do you do all the work required to get the boxes ready for recycling?

Let's get into some "technical" knowledge:

There are two kinds of cardboards: The first is known as corrugated cardboard: Consist on a wavy inner layer of cardboard, making it a kind of three-layer sandwich of cardboard. 

Typical Style from the Amazon boxes

The other type is called paperboard: It is a single layer of gray cardboard that's used to make things like cereal boxes, shoe boxes, and other packages.

Paperboard, this is typical for cereal boxes and phone boxes

Now that you are more knowledgeable, let´s talk about the topic that we are here for:

How to recycle cardboard

In general, cardboard is recyclable. Most places that accepts cardboard will ask you to flattened the boxes, and remove all the label and stickers (Yeah, that sucks when we talk about the Amazon deliveries)

The labels marked on yellow will need to be removed prior to flatten and recycle the box

When is a good idea to NOT recycle cardboard?

Grease and oil in paper recycling, and greasy pizza boxes are two of the worst contaminants. (There are some governmental entities that already took small actions on this matter. Here is the webpage from Seattle Public Utilities). This does not mean that the whole the box is not recyclable: In the case of pizza boxes, you could cut the sections without grease and recycle those, while tossing to the trash the other ones. When in doubt if there is presence of grease, better toss it in the trash. As a good rule: If food -that leaks or causes stains- touched any part of the carboard, that part is not recyclable.

 

Sections that can and can´t be recycled

Moldy cardboard or with paint stains are not recyclable. Despite several web-pages giving advice on how to remove mold, this cannot be completely removed from cardboard (because of the porous surface). Careful! Wear gloves, eye protection and respirators when handling moldy boxes. I am not an expert of mold, so the only advice I can give you is to get an second opinion if you are facing this situation. This reference is a good start. Another good reference comes from North Dakota State University.

Moldy boxes 

For waxed carboards or water resistant cardboards you might have to check with your recycling program because recycle them is not always available! Most paper food containers that appear to be coated in wax are actually coated with polyethylene (Plastic)! Something to think about when you are buying coffee from Starbucks and other coffee shops: Those cups, although sometimes made of recycled cardboard, they are also waxed paper. So, in theory, the lid (which is made of PS#6) is the only "recyclable". Other objects of the same style are milk, juice and frozen containers (For example, ice cream tubs), drink boxes and all the fast food containers (In case you needed more motivation to leave those salty fries out of your diet).

I hope you find this new article interesting :). Knowledge makes you smarter and wiser!!

How to recycle...correctly?

Hi again!

Although recycling looks like the simple task of putting plastic, glass,metals, papers, cardboard, etc in a different bin than your trash, it is much more complicated. I'm not trying to scare you nor make you feel it will take a bit chunk of your time, but doing it right is an 'art', and as such, it requires a little bit practice and a lot of patience.

Today I will go over some basic examples about proper ways to recycle certain objects. Let's go over the simple stuffs:

Water bottles, Milk bottles, Gatorade bottles, dish soap bottles or any plastic bottles! 

In order to recycle it properly you MUST:

1) Remove the label

2) Remove the lid

3) And even the plastic ring!! 

Just like in the picture below: 

Some curbside programs and recycling places are able to take the lids and the rings , but almost guaranteed you will have to discard the label in the trash. For Michiganders: the caps can be donated to Scrap Ann Arbor

Unfortunately, the bottle will be the only recyclable piece. 

Plastic egg cartons (wtf?), cherry tomatoes, salad containers, veggie trays! 

Similarly, you will have to remove the labels on these containers. 

Just like the picture below!

Metal cans for beans, corn, fruits and so forth!

Please, please! Metal is one of the most important material to be recycled because it can be used almost unlimited times - unlike plastic. But, once more - as like the other containers - you have to remove the label!

Pasta boxes, frozen dinners or any type of box with a small plastic "window"

In general, for space and simplicity, disassemble the box and always remove the little plastic window of the box. Unfortunately, that plastic window cannot be recycle, but the cardboard most likely can be recycled. 

Some pasta boxes come with a sign that says How2Recycle - Which you can also see on the blue shipping envelopes from Amazon- . This is a special recycling program where specific locations (i.e. Target) receives certain types of items. For more info click here

There are a lot of other things that you need to consider, but these initial rules will help you to start your recycling process more effectively!

Do more research!! The internet is a great resource! Just look at this great webpage: http://apps.npr.org/plastics-recycling/