How to recycle cardboard

How to recycle cardboard

By Dr. Kyle Muller

Cardboard is a material that is formed by paper layers and, for this, virgin fiber or recycled paper is used. It is a material thicker than the paper, hard and resistant that is used mainly to pack products. Taking into account the amount of products that are generated, the cardboard that is used is much and as a consequence large amounts of waste are obtained. Luckily, this material can be recycled or reused in many different ways, thus reducing the exploitation of raw materials.

If you want to know more about the recycling of the cardboard, continue reading this interesting ecology article in which we talk about How to recycle cardboard.

How to recycle cardboard at home

For Recycle cardboard You have to know when we can deposit it and where to deposit it. In addition, sometimes, before looking for the option to recycle, we can reuse it by transforming the residue into a new useful object or using it to make crafts.

What cardboard is recycled

We can recycle the cardboard of the boxes that contain products, that of the toilet paper, the egg cards, etc., although it is convenient to remove all those adhesive labels that may contain or any staple. Another thing to take into account when we are going to recycle cardboard is that you cannot recycle that cardboard that has remains of organic matter, for example, pizza boxes that are stained with fat or oil, since this alters the recycling process being the contaminated and not usable material in this way.

Therefore, it is very necessary and easy separate recyclable cardboard at home To then take it to the appropriate container, as well as decide which cardboard pieces can be reused with crafts or giving them other uses.

What is the cardboard container

It is very important to know where the cardboard is recycled to facilitate the process of recovering this material and giving more life, without wasting it. The container to recycle cardboard is The blueso in this container the cartons can be deposited whenever they are free of organic remains.

How to recycle egg cards

Egg cards should be deposited in the blue container, but how can the cardboard of the eggs at home be reused or recycled?

  • For plant lovers we bring you a fantastic idea, use egg cards such as seedlings or germinatorsbecause they can germinate the seeds that will later be transplanted to a pot. Here you can learn how to make a seedbed.
  • Hueveras are also very useful for Cardboard craftssince with them we can make bird feeders or beautiful lamps for our house.
  • They are perfect materials for soundproof spacessurely you have ever seen these cards on the walls of a room to isolate the noise, since the shape of the sound waves.

How to recycle cardboard - How to recycle egg cards

How to recycle toilet paper cardboard

This cardboard also like the previous one is deposited in the blue container. There are many Ideas for recycling cardboard with craftssome examples are:

  • Binocular for the little ones: we only need two paper rolls, a little imagination to decorate them and a rope to hang them around the neck.
  • Marcos to place the photos: there are also ideas for photography fans, because you can make beautiful frames for photos of very different ways and then paint them to taste.
  • Bowling: They can be decorated with paintings and then stack them to play bowling with any ball that children have.
  • Pencil boats: You can also make boats to put pencils and pens on the desktop, it is only necessary to decorate them a little to our liking and put another piece of cardboard stuck with glue or white tail as a base.

How to recycle cardboard - How to recycle cardboard of toilet paper

How to recycle milk cards

The Milk or Briks cards They must be deposited in Cyellow ontenedorsince they are not only composed of cardboard, but also inside they contain a thin layer of aluminum. We can perform different Crafts with Bricks As, for example:

  • A purse.
  • A pencil case.
  • A runoff for cutlery.
  • Horizontal or hanging pots or gardeners.
  • Isolate the walls of the rooms.

How cardboard is recycled

As mentioned above, the cardboard is deposited in the blue container, but then the whole cardboard recycling process:

  1. It is thrown into the blue container.
  2. Later this material is collected and transported to an authorized manager, such as cardboard recycling companies.
  3. When the entry of paper and cardboard waste is made in the authorized manager, these are weighed and the date of entry, the Cer code, the description, the origin and data of the carrier are registered.
  4. The waste is stored depending on their origin in order to prevent qualities from mixing.
  5. It goes to an automatic or manual classification process to eliminate impurities such as plastic, glass, sand or other materials.
  6. Once the impurities are classified and eliminated, the cardboard is crushed and short to reduce the size.
  7. Then there is a pressing and cooling of the cardboard to be sent to the factories where the cardboard recycling process will be carried out in the recycling plant.

In these places, The cardboard goes through several processes:

  1. Cardboard plastification: Chemical solvents are added to separate the paper fibers from the waste.
  2. Cardboard screening: Selection to eliminate all those waste that is not cardboard.
  3. Centrifuged and crushed: cardboard and paper waste is undone until a uniform dough is obtained. Then it passes through a crusher and filters to get rid of plastic, ink or metals that accompanied the waste.
  4. Classification of the resulting material: Once free of polluting substances, the fiber generated in short cellulose (newspaper) and long cellulose (cardboard or folios) is classified

Although only cardboard has been mentioned, the paper is also deposited in the blue container since the following process is similar to the cardboard.

How to recycle cardboard - How cardboard is recycled

Benefits of recycling cardboard and its importance

Sometimes, it is necessary to ask yourself What is the importance of recycling cardboard in order to be aware of the benefits that this act that begins in our house has. Among the Cardboard recycling benefits We found that, for example, by recycling a ton of cardboard:

  • 50,000 liters of water are saved.
  • 140 liters of oil are saved.
  • 900 kilos of CO2 are stopped.
  • More space is free in the landfill to be occupied by other waste that cannot be recycled.

Therefore, it is better to recycle cardboard than to produce it from raw materials. If you want to learn more about why recycling cardboard and paper is important enters here.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to recycle cardboardwe recommend that you enter our recycling and waste management category.

Kyle Muller
About the author
Dr. Kyle Muller
Dr. Kyle Mueller is a Research Analyst at the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department in Houston, Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University in 2019, where his dissertation was supervised by Dr. Scott Bowman. Dr. Mueller's research focuses on juvenile justice policies and evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing recidivism among youth offenders. His work has been instrumental in shaping data-driven strategies within the juvenile justice system, emphasizing rehabilitation and community engagement.
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