Originally published Mar 9/16 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.
Two recent conversations about cardboard made me realize that people need more information about it.
The first conversation reminded me there are two different kinds of cardboard. There is the cereal box kind and the corrugated kind.
Cereal box cardboard is actually box board which goes in the bag with the rest of your recyclables. Box board is baled up with the other materials that are sorted in Winnipeg.
When we talk about cardboard, we are usually referring to corrugated cardboard. It is the thicker kind with a wavy layer inside two flat layers. Most things from shampoo to car parts come to Flin Flon in corrugated cardboard boxes.
In the recycling business it is referred to as OCC which stands for Old Corrugated Cardboard.
Cardboard is baled up separately and sold. The price is based on a metric ton or MT. Prices change depending on market conditions. It was worth $100.00/ MT or more for a few months in 1999 and again in 2002.
In 2008 and 2009 it was worth nothing or we had to pay to recycle it. We quit recycling cardboard during those years because we could not afford it.
That was the second conversation. Someone didn’t know we had resumed recycling cardboard.
We began to collect it gradually in 2010 because we could sell it. Prices have varied from $25.00 - $75.00/MT. They have been steady at $30.00 for the past two years.
Recently we began shipping it to a company that pays $50.00/MT.
Cardboard is 48% of the material we process for recycling. Last year we recycled 15 semi loads.
Cardboard is easily recycled into new boxes. Recycling it saves resources and landfill space.
It’s worth it.
Two recent conversations about cardboard made me realize that people need more information about it.
The first conversation reminded me there are two different kinds of cardboard. There is the cereal box kind and the corrugated kind.
Cereal box cardboard is actually box board which goes in the bag with the rest of your recyclables. Box board is baled up with the other materials that are sorted in Winnipeg.
When we talk about cardboard, we are usually referring to corrugated cardboard. It is the thicker kind with a wavy layer inside two flat layers. Most things from shampoo to car parts come to Flin Flon in corrugated cardboard boxes.
In the recycling business it is referred to as OCC which stands for Old Corrugated Cardboard.
Cardboard is baled up separately and sold. The price is based on a metric ton or MT. Prices change depending on market conditions. It was worth $100.00/ MT or more for a few months in 1999 and again in 2002.
In 2008 and 2009 it was worth nothing or we had to pay to recycle it. We quit recycling cardboard during those years because we could not afford it.
That was the second conversation. Someone didn’t know we had resumed recycling cardboard.
We began to collect it gradually in 2010 because we could sell it. Prices have varied from $25.00 - $75.00/MT. They have been steady at $30.00 for the past two years.
Recently we began shipping it to a company that pays $50.00/MT.
Cardboard is 48% of the material we process for recycling. Last year we recycled 15 semi loads.
Cardboard is easily recycled into new boxes. Recycling it saves resources and landfill space.
It’s worth it.
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