Can You Recycle Cardboard Food Boxes ?

According to the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, each UAE resident produces 1.8 kilograms of waste per day (MOCCAE), one of the world's highest. This waste includes not just wasted food but also plastic, paper, and used cardboard that make their way to landfills from our homes.

Much of the cardboard waste includes the cardboard used for packing food that ends up in trash cans in many homes. However, only 3% of all cardboard waste in the UAE is recycled. It may make you wonder what the reason behind this could be. Are some types of cardboard not recyclable? And can you recycle cardboard food boxes? The latter is what we will address in this post.

You may be asking what you can do to help as the possibility of overflowing landfills and oceans inundated with cardboard waste looms. Making sure your household waste is correctly recycled is undoubtedly a positive step.

But, you must first ensure that you can recycle common types of cardboard found in homes, such as cardboard food boxes. Here, we will look to convincingly answer the question: can you recycle cardboard food boxes? It will help establish whether or not you can do it.

Can you recycle cardboard food boxes? The best way to find out is by understanding if cardboard, in general, is recyclable.

You can recycle most cardboard products. Corrugated and paperboard cardboard are the two main varieties of cardboard. Boxes delivered via mail typically feature corrugated cardboard. An inner cardboard layer is sandwiched between liner sheets to make these packing boxes sturdier.

Paperboard, usually referred to as chipboard, is frequently used to create packaging for food and consumer products, such as shoe or cereal boxes. This form of cardboard is more lightweight than corrugated cardboard and is made of just one layer of greyish paper material, making it simpler to shred or flatten.

The strands holding up corrugated cardboard become slightly shorter every time it is recycled. Therefore, whenever you recycle cardboard, it becomes a little thinner. When the fibers are too thin to produce robust corrugated cardboard, paperboard is the only type of cardboard that may be used. Boxes for cake mix, cereal, and soda are made of this paperboard.

Did you know that you cannot recycle all cardboard? It would help if you did not toss used pizza boxes with food residues into the recycling bin, even though they are recyclable in theory. The same holds for containers immersed in cleaning agents or other household goods.

Why? Due to the possibility that these materials can compromise cardboard and effect recycling efforts, making it more challenging to separate paper fibers from oils.

It will help if you put your cardboard in your bin dedicated to recycling provided you keep it clean and dry. Boxes used to deliver pizza and other fast food boxes that are wet or greasy are contaminated, and you should throw them in the trash.

Wet or polluted items might clog sorting machinery and spoil excellent, clean material. In order to optimize the advantages of your curbside service, remember to remove any plastic packaging or bags from your boxes. You can fit more recyclables in your container by leveling your boxes.

Cardboard recycling is relatively simple. The future of curbside recycling programs, such as cardboard food box recycling in the UAE, is bright as long as you follow the fundamentals of recycling.

Here are some common types of recyclable cardboard food boxes that you can recycle in the UAE.

1. Pizza Boxes

Can you recycle pizza boxes, or do you need to put them in the green bin? The answer to this frequently asked question is both! If your pizza boxes are empty, there isn't a lot of sauce or cheese sticking to them, and they aren't highly grease-soiled, you can recycle them with other paper products. In other cases, review your green bin/organic collection requirements. A few stains here and there are acceptable.

2. Paper Containers

You can recycle paperboard containers with your other paper waste if they are clean and empty. It's acceptable if the brown paperboard containers have a flimsy plastic poly-coat liner. You can still recycle them with your paper.

3. Beverage Cups

Beverage cups used for coffee typically feature paperboard, so you would want to know if you can recycle them in the UAE. Your blue box is where you recycle beverage cups. Additionally, the lids go in the blue box, and the cardboard sleeves are recycled with the paper.

You can put cardboard boxes on your compost pile if you're a home gardener. Just make sure your cardboard food boxes haven't been in direct contact with things that aren't edible, like toiletries or cleaning materials, which would contaminate the remainder of the compost pile.

Also, verify that the cardboard does not contain any packaging components, such as foil or plastic, and get rid of any stickers, tape, and other adhesives.

Conclusion
Overall, leftover cardboard food boxes can be recycled or reused, so there's no need to throw them away. Please think twice before you throw away these highly recyclable items, regardless of whether you want to put those boxes in the trash or use them for your upcoming significant move.

Additionally, you can ensure that the used cardboard food boxes in your homes and places of business are disposed of securely and correctly by taking advantage of our RECAPP Solutions for individuals and businesses.