How to Reduce Cardboard Waste

Cardboard is a sustainable material. However, it’s important to reduce how much cardboard we use and waste as it can contribute to deforestation and habitat destruction. Excess cardboard waste and improper disposal may also increase demand for new wood pulp products that further impacts this.

Currently in the UK, 70.6% of paper and cardboard packaging is recycled every year. This means cardboard is one of the most recycled materials but shows that almost 30% of cardboard isn’t recycled and may end up in landfill. Reducing cardboard waste minimises the risk of it going to a landfill site. Explore more cardboard waste facts and stats.

Cardboard is biodegradable, which means it breaks down over time. This might sound good for the environment but if it ends up in landfill it takes up valuable space when it could be recycled and produces methane as it biodegrades. This traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming.

Recycling cardboard should always be the aim when you have any for disposal. This avoids releasing methane through landfill or other disposal methods, minimises the need to cut down more trees, and saves energy, water, and oil otherwise used to create fresh cardboard.

Most businesses use cardboard daily in one form or another. It could be as packaging when receiving or sending out orders, for storage, or simply handing out business cards. The amount of waste cardboard your company generates can soon add up. Taking steps to reduce cardboard use and waste can benefit the environment and your budget.

A few ways to reduce cardboard waste as a business are to:

• Develop a minimal packaging design – packaging is the main use of cardboard by businesses to protect products on their way to customers. If your organisation oversees its packaging designs then changing to one that uses as little cardboard as possible helps reduce waste. Or switch suppliers to a packaging firm with minimal yet effective designs.
• Reuse cardboard for shipping – a simple way to reduce cardboard waste is to reuse any delivery boxes and packaging for shipping your company’s own products. Reusing your own boxes and packaging ensures branding is in place. If that’s not necessary then reuse other cardboard boxes from deliveries your company receives.

Households produce tonnes of cardboard waste each day – from throwing out old cereal boxes to disposing of birthday cards and packaging from your last online delivery. It’s estimated that the average family gets rid of around 13,000 bits of cardboard every year in the UK. Minimising domestic cardboard waste can help protect the environment.

To reduce cardboard waste at home:

• Reuse cardboard boxes for storage – easily extend the lifespan of any cardboard boxes by using them for storage. It could be keeping photos and mementoes in a shoebox, packing away Christmas decorations into delivery boxes before they’re put in the loft, or storing instruction manuals in an old cereal box.
• Save cardboard for moving home – storing cardboard boxes in your loft, cellar, or spare room for a future house move saves time, effort, and resources in the future. Whether you’re planning to move home or know someone else who is, having them to hand avoids buying moving boxes that cost more and create additional waste.
• Make arts and crafts – cardboard sheets, kitchen rolls, and packaging boxes are great resources for your kids (or you) to get crafty. All sorts of cardboard can be cut and formed into shapes to make greeting cards – just add your own design. Sticking together boxes and cardboard tubes is a great rainy-day activity too.
• Compost cardboard – you can compost some cardboard and it helps balance many compost piles as it’s rich in carbon. Remove any sticky tape, glue, glitter, and other contaminants, then shred or break up big pieces to speed up the composting process. It may take between six to eight months for the cardboard to fully decompose. Discover how to compost.