Recycled corrugated cardboard
Recycled cardboard boxes
Not only with consumers, but also with (food) products and other industries such as web shops, which deal with packaging, awareness about climate change has become apparent in recent years. Ecological and sustainable packaging are therefore becoming increasingly important. At De Jong Packaging, we have seen enormous demand for cardboard packaging in recent years. Not so strange when you consider that cardboard is a very durable material. Contrary to other packaging materials such as plastic, (corrugated) cardboard is completely biobased and biodegradable.
Truck with paper for recycling
What sustainable packaging materials are there besides cardboard?
In addition to corrugated board, there are a number of other sustainable packaging materials:
Sugarcane
Sugarcane paper is made from the fibers of sugarcane, after the juices have been extracted in the sugar factory. Sugarcane is planted for the production of sugar and alcohol, the residues are used to make paper.
Palm leaf
Packaging material can also be made from the leaves that palm trees lose. Palm leaf is 100% compostable and can be disposed of with green waste.
PLA (Polylacitide) and C-PLA
PLA and C-PLA are bioplastics. The basis of PLA is lactic acid, which is produced from corn starch. C-PLA is made from the starch from the cassava root. PLA and C-PLA are a good alternative to traditional environmentally polluting plastics. Research has shown, however, that fresh products packaged in plastic remain three days less than in cardboard packaging. *
Disadvantages of recyclable and biodegradable packaging
In addition to many environmental and planet benefits, there are also disadvantages. For example, many of the above packaging materials cannot be recycled. This means that new material must always be used. The production process also naturally costs energy and is in some cases less sustainable than recycling. In addition, the origin of the raw materials for these materials is also not always clear. De Jong Packaging uses wood that comes from sustainably managed forests. De Jong Packaging has an FSC® certification (Certificate number CU-COC-818959, License number FSC-C108472).
How is cardboard recycled?
Cardboard recycling is a fairly simple and efficient process.
1. Collection of cardboard packaging and boxes
The Netherlands, Germany and many other European countries have a well-designed recycling system whereby consumers can take their old paper and cardboard packaging to a collection point or return their waste paper and cardboard via container. The cardboard boxes and packaging used by the retail sector are collected through a central collection system for recycling.
The waste from the production of cardboard boxes and packaging from our factory is delivered to the recycling factory by truck. The truck that delivers the new recycled paper to De Jong Packaging immediately takes the old cardboard that is used for the recycling process. In this way, the transport is as efficient and energy efficient as possible.
2. Cardboard pulp
Step 2 in the cardboard recycling process is making cardboard pulp. Old cardboard is mixed with water and a kind of “cardboard soup” is created. This pulp is sieved to filter out unwanted materials such as staples and plastic tape.
3. De-inking
The cardboard pulp then goes into a de-inker. In this de-inker, air bubbles are pressed through the fibers at high pressure so that the ink comes off. Unlike white paper, corrugated board is not bleached further. After the de-inking process, new fibers are sometimes added to the pulp to further improve the quality of the final product.
4. Drying and pressing
After drying and pressing the pulp by means of a number of heated rollers, a beautiful end product is created which is then used as the basis for our packaging.
How often can paper and cardboard be recycled?
Paper and cardboard can be recycled 6 to 7 times. This is in contrast to glass and tin, for example, which can be recycled indefinitely. In the paper recycling process, the fibers become shorter each time, causing the paper fibers to lose some of their strength. By combining the fibers of old cardboard packaging with new fresh paper fibers, the recycling process can be repeated a number of times, so that the quality of the (corrugated) cardboard is always optimal. Some papers are made from 100% new, fresh (wood) fibers.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Would you like to know more about sustainable entrepreneurship and what De Jong Packaging does in this area? Also read our CSR statement.
* study at the University of Bologna (Lanciotti, 2016)
