Recycling cardboard and brown paper bags helps reduce pollution
 

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Benefits of recycling cardboard and brown paper bags

Cardboard is manufactured from cellulose fibers extracted primarily from trees. Using a recycled material, rather than a raw material conserves energy and natural resources and helps reduce pollution. Making the pulp used in cardboard creates sulfur dioxide, a gas that causes acid rain. Recycling cardboard cuts that pollution in half.

Paper fibers from corrugated boxes are long and strong. They can be used many times reducing the need to cut down trees. Preserving forests benefits our rivers and lakes by preventing erosion, improves the air we breathe by removing carbon dioxide, adds to the beauty of our surroundings and can save the homes of many different types of wildlife.
· Recycling one ton of cardboard saves over 9 cubic yards of landfill space.
· Recycling all of your home's waste newsprint, cardboard, glass, and metal can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds a year.
· Americans throw away enough wood and paper every year to heat five million homes for 200 years.

Ways you can reduce, reuse, and recycle cardboard and brown paper bags
Reduce the number of cardboard boxes and brown paper bags you use. Use cloth bags or totes for grocery shopping. Use the smallest size box when possible.

Reuse your cardboard boxes for storage, mailing, moving, or for collecting your recyclable items

Recycle cardboard boxes and brown paper bags because they are processed into new cardboard material for packaging and storage.

Careful sorting helps increase recycled cardboard value
Correctly sorting your cardboard for recycling insures a quality product. Make sure it's corrugated cardboard. Look for that wavy inner layer to make sure. Corrugated cardboard can be thin and paperboard can be thick. Brown paper bags are recycled with corrugated cardboard. Paper board (cereal boxes etc.) should go with your mixed paper. Some products are both and need to be separated. Cardboard boxes should be clean and dry. Break then down the boxes, flatten and remove excessive tape before bringing them to the drop off site

Corrugated boxes are baled, sent to the mill, and inspected. Bales containing more than 5% other paper fibers 1% prohibitive, or 10% moisture are rejected and end up in the landfill. Other paper products, such as paperboard, egg cartons, magazines, contain shorter fibers and fillers which can decrease the quality of the end product. Materials such as glass, rocks, styrofoam, wax, and wet strength paper can damage the recycling equipment, cause health concerns, or make the end product unusable. Moisture in the cardboard weakens fibers and causes dangerous conditions. during processing.