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How can I recycle my seasonal packaging waste? Tips from Ellgia

Written by ellgia admin | Jun 3, 2022 4:19:00 PM

 

Many businesses can be swamped with excess packaging waste at seasonal high points. No one wants to have to store large amounts of cardboard or other packaging, which can quickly build up and takes up a large amount of space in warehouses, offices, shops and restaurant kitchens.

This is where a bespoke waste management service based around your needs and peak times is incredibly useful. We can work with you to build a waste collection service that takes into account your peak seasons and so schedule in extra cardboard and mixed recycling collections to quickly clear any backlog.

According to the charity WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), the grocery sector accounts for about 70% of the packaging market and every year around 10 million tonnes of packaging is used in the UK.  Less than half is household related and, if it isn’t reused or recycled, can end up in landfill.

Meanwhile, UK hospitality and food service outlets produce a total of almost 3 million tonnes of waste per year, consisting of packaging (1.3 million tonnes), food waste (0.92 million tonnes), and other ‘non-food’ wastes that includes disposables such as kitchen paper (0.66 million tonnes).

Luckily, cardboard is an easily recycled (link https://www.ellgiarecycling.co.uk/cardboard-recycling-cambridge-ellgia-recycling) material and should never go into a general waste bin. Whether you have corrugated cardboard boxes, plain cardboard boxes (such as food packing), Tetra Pak packaging, brown paper or cardboard envelopes – we can recycle this waste.

What’s more, we accept both foil and cardboard in our mixed recycling collections along with any paper, magazines, plastics, tins, cans and plastic bottles. It is very important your recycling isn`t contaminated by waste, such as food or liquid left in its packaging.

What happens to recycled cardboard?

It is recycled into new cardboard! The process is quite simple and starts with sorting the cardboard into flat sheets and corrugated board at the recycling centre. The next step is to shred the cardboard into tiny pieces and mix it with water and chemicals that will turn it a pulp. This recycled pulp is then mixed with a small amount of new pulp made from wood chips. It then goes through filtering and chemical and centrifugal process to remove contaminant such as ink and tape. The cleaned pulp is now dried and pressed to form long sheets, which are glued together to make new cardboard.