Landfill Diversion
Recycle Paper and Cardboard
What Is It?
A major part of waste consists of paper goods and cardboard products. By recycling these paper and cardboard products, waste can be diverted from the landfill and reused to make other paper goods. Paper and cardboard have “seven generations” of recycling, meaning that they can be recycled seven times before the fibers become too short to be reused.
Benefits
Paper and cardboard can take years to break down in a landfill, but by recycling one ton of paper and cardboard annually, 54 million and 6.6 million BTUs of energy can be saved, respectively. By recycling papers and cardboard, a business not only helps reduce the number of trees needed to be cut down, but also saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions for years to come.
Resources
- Massachusetts WasteWise Program
- RecyclingWorks: Paper
- RecyclingWorks: Cardboard
- EPA: Recycling Basics
- MassDEP: Waste Ban Brochure 2014
News
- "All options on table in Boston's new 'zero waste' planning process — even franchising," WasteDive, May 5, 2017
- "Five Ways to Increase Recycling from Business" Waste Management World, May 2016
A Sample of Suppliers
- Save That Stuff [multi-stream hauler]
- E.L. Harvey [multi-stream hauler]
- Casella [multi-stream hauler]
- Waste Management [multi-stream hauler]
