How to Recycle Cardboard?

To follow the cardboard recycling process properly, it’s important to know how to prepare the boxes and where to dispose of them.

Break Down the Boxes

unassembled open cardboard box

The first step in the cardboard recycling process is to break down the box. Use a box cutter, knife, scissors or house key to cut any tape holding the box together, allowing you to easily collapse it.

Check to make sure there are no packaging materials, like plastic, left in the box. Then flatten it completely. While you can remove the tape or packaging labels yourself, most recycling centers will remove it themselves — so no need to worry about that.

If the cardboard waste has come into contact with liquid or any other contaminants, cut that part out before you recycle it. This technique is also relevant with pizza boxes that don’t have too much grease or oil on them. All in all, saturated cardboard is difficult to recycle, so make it easier for these recycling facilities by only giving them the dry parts.