With rain forecast until the end of December and Christmas deliveries swelling the volume of cardboard in recycling bins, sustainable packaging firm Priory Direct is urging households to keep their cardboard waste dry to enable recycling and minimise the environmental impact of the festive season.
Josh Pitman, Managing Director of Priory Direct, highlights common misconceptions around cardboard recycling and warns:
“Wet cardboard generally cannot be recycled so, with rain coming, it’s vital that households keep the 300,000 tonnes of cardboard waste we generate every year at Christmas time dry.
“Moisture significantly weakens cardboard fibres making them harder to mesh together after pulping to create new cardboard. Wet cardboard also clogs machinery and increases the weight of recycling loads, which makes the process more costly. This in turn reduces the value for paper and cardboard recycling centres.”
Pitman fears that more cardboard will end up in landfill than recycling due to lack of awareness about recycling processes, but says the solution is simple:
“Store your cardboard waste inside until it’s time for your next recycling collection or protect it with a waterproof covering where space is limited.
“And be sure to remove anything stuck onto your boxes, like tape, labels, grease and glitter, as much as you can. This is important because not all of these can be separated from cardboard during the recycling process.
“Not removing these things simply increases the amount of cardboard having to be discarded and go to landfill rather than recycling.”
“This way,” he says, “the post-Christmas recycling process will be more effective and efficient, reducing the environmental impact of the holiday season.”
About Priory Direct
Priory Direct is based in Kent (Aylesford) and supplies sustainable packaging to over 21,000 businesses. It helps large retailers reduce their carbon footprint by tackling supply chain and operational challenges, helping to lower the environmental impact of ecommerce. It also provides affordable, sustainable packaging materials to thousands of small businesses, with 2,000 products ranging from cardboard boxes to mailing bags. The company’s Priory Elements range is designed with recyclability in mind and is partnered with international organisation 1% For the Planet. The firm has numerous charitable partnerships, is carbon neutral, a B Corp, and working towards net neutrality by 2030.