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Here’s How to Recycle Your Cardboard Boxes

Question: Is this cardboard box recyclable?

Answer: YES, cardboard is built to be recycled. 

Recycle Cardboard Boxes Right

Here’s how to do it right:

  1. First, empty your box to remove packing materials, such as Styrofoam or packing peanuts
  2. Flatten your cardboard box to save space 
  3. Put it in the recycling bin

Now, wasn’t that easy? Pro tip: Ensure your box is dry and clean. Even if it gets wet, it can still be recycled once dried

Cardboard Recycling Tips

A few additional things to keep in mind when recycling cardboard:

  • Dented, ripped and damaged cardboard can still be recycled
  • You do not have to remove tape or labels – the recycling process will remove these for you
  • Milk, juice, and cereal boxes can all be recycled, if clean

Always check your local guidelines for how they want your boxes.

Want to learn more about recycling? See all of our Recycling Q&As.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030