Common Cardboard Recycling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

For small businesses, recycling cardboard is an easy way to reduce waste and lower disposal costs, but small mistakes can disrupt the process and reduce its effectiveness. One of the best ways to streamline recycling efforts is by baling your cardboard using a cardboard baler. Here’s how to avoid the most common pitfalls and ensure your recycling program is both efficient and eco-friendly.

1. Not Sorting Properly
One of the most common mistakes businesses make is mixing other materials with cardboard. Remove items like plastic wrap, bubble wrap, and foam inserts before recycling. When using a baler, sort only clean, dry cardboard for baling to avoid contamination. Proper sorting keeps your cardboard clean and ensures it remains a valuable material for recycling.

2. Ignoring Contamination
Grease, food residue, or liquid can ruin an entire bale of cardboard. Make sure boxes from food shipments or deliveries are wiped clean and completely dry before being placed in the baler. Avoid recycling pizza boxes or heavily soiled packaging, as these contaminants can lead to rejected bales at recycling centers.

3. Not Flattening or Breaking Down Boxes
Leaving boxes intact takes up space and can make baling inefficient. Flatten boxes before feeding them into the baler to maximize the amount of cardboard that can be compressed into a single bale. This not only saves space but also makes transportation easier and more cost-effective.

4. Overlooking the Benefits of Baling
If you’re not using a baler yet, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to save time, space, and money. A cardboard baler compresses cardboard into dense, manageable bales that are easier to store, transport, and sell to recycling companies. Properly baled cardboard is also far more likely to be accepted by recycling centers, increasing its value.

5. Forgetting to Train Your Staff
Even the best recycling program will fail without proper employee training. Ensure your team knows how to sort, flatten, and load the baler correctly. Clear signage near recycling bins and baling stations can act as helpful reminders.

6. Not Utilizing a Cardboard Bale Pickup Route

Using a service like Greene Recycling for your cardboard bale pickup route you could be loosing money that you might be getting discounted off your pick-up price.  Many services simply take your cardboard bales to landfills or whomever will take them!  Greene Recycling makes sure there is some kind of discount coming back to you and off your pick up price!.

By avoiding these common mistakes and utilizing a cardboard baler, your small business can create an efficient, contamination-free recycling system that saves space, reduces waste, and even generates revenue through recycled cardboard bales. Small efforts make a big impact, so start baling smarter today!