Recycling is good, but the thing that they don’t tell you as a kid is how to do it correctly. With new rules being set all over the place every single time, it’s hard to figure out what the best guidelines are for this. Knowing this, we’ll be able to understand the benefits of cardboard boxes and their recycling capabilities. 

How to recycle 

Pretty much all types of cardboard boxes are free to be recycled but they do require a few conditions. For starters, you need to take out any plastic windows and bags, bubble wrap, Styrofoam, and whatnot, and make sure that’s removed. If you have food, you need to take it out of there, and you should make sure all stains from the food are taken out. You can only recycle some boxes, such as pizza or carryout, if they’re not stained with grease and whatnot. 

Finally, you should make sure that it’s not wet. That’s because the wetness from water does weaken the fibers within this, making it harder to use, and not as stable as well. A lot of them may ask for you to make sure that you flatten it too, and make sure that’s done before you throw it in the bin.

Knowing what’s Acceptable 

You need to check the regulations in order to make sure that you get the right cardboard boxes for this. In general, most cardboard shipping boxes and packaging need to be recycled, so long as they’re free of other items that don’t make it possible to be recycled, such as plastic and whatnot. 

You can also just check with them, but overall corrugated boxes, white mail packaging, pasta boxes, and cereal boxes are all valid. Anything that’s wax-coated does need the sign that it’s okay to be recycled before you can do it, and some of them also may incorporate other special directions including removing and rinsing the cap before you’re able to recycle this. 

Why recycle 

This should be obvious, but the amount of energy that you save through recycling is important. If you manufacture the pulp within this, it does cause sulfur dioxide, which does contribute to acid rain, and this in turn does cut down on the pollutants used. 

This also is good because you can actually use boxes up to seven different times before you can’t use the fibers anymore, and one ton of cardboard recycled can save up to 17 trees. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, over time that does grow and get better, and it can be something that you’ll definitely want in terms of benefits, as there is a lot that you can do with it. 

This also cuts down on CO2, and in a lot of cases, it can definitely improve this. Think about it, with over 24 million tons discarded every single year, if we do recycle, we save 9 cubic yards alone, and if you take that worldwide, that’s 217 million cubic yards of landfill saved by this. 

It also is good for trees, saving three tons of trees if you just recycle a ton of cardboard alone. This also does reduce emissions. One study found that about 35% of emissions got reduced just from recycling boxes more. 

With our world in peril and a lot of humans just using different parts of the land, it’s vital to ensure that you are taking care of the space. Through recycling and reducing emissions, we’ll be able to, with this alone, definitely keep our planet nice and safe, now and in the future.