Paper

Every ton of paper recycled saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. Based on weight measurements, paper is recycled nearly three times as often as it is sent to landfills, making paper the most recycled material in the municipal solid waste stream.

Collection

Paperboard boxes are collected at curbside, school, and workplace drop-off centers.

Other examples of paperboard include dry or frozen food boxes and shoe boxes.

Sorting

As it goes through the materials recovery facility (MRF), paper board is sorted from other paper products by hand and mechanically (using gravity and air) into specific grades and types of fiber.

Processing

At the pulp or paper mill, recovered fiber is stored by grade and then fed into a hydrapulper, where it is mixed with water and turned into a slurry — a semiliquid mixture — that will be used in the papermaking process.

Converting

Wet slurry is spread onto a cloth or wire web where it is formed into multi-ply or multi-layered paperboard, similar to a three-layer cake.

Manufacturing

Traveling like a ribbon around drying drums, the paperboard is dried and then wound into rolls that are 100 inches wide and 5 feet in diameter and weigh about 2 tons. It is now ready to be shipped for converting into an end product.