The DeLine Box Commitment to Sustainability

We recycle our plastic strapping, stretch film and even our printing ink

Everyone is talking about sustainability. The funny thing is that the corrugated packaging industry has long been at the forefront of the reuse, recycle and re-make movement. Scrap from box companies is always sent back to paper mills to be reused in making new liner board.

What is Sustainable Packaging?

Sustainable packaging is designed to reduce wastage and conserve important resources.
There are three main elements to this:

How does Deline stay committed to green processes?

What Makes Packaging Green?

  • Is the packaging beneficial, safe, and healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle?
  • Does the packaging meet market criteria for performance and cost?
  • Is the packaging sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using renewable energy?
  • Does the packaging maximize the use of renewable or recycled source materials?
  • s the packaging manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices?
  • Is the packaging made from materials healthy in all probable end-of-life scenarios?
  • Is the packaging physically designed to optimize materials and energy?
  • Is the packaging effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle-to-cradle cycles?

Corrugated:

The Sustainable Packaging Material

  • Corrugated is the most-recycled packaging material on earth, with a recovery rate over 78% in the United States.
  • 78.3% of all corrugated was recovered in the US for recycling in 2007 (25.6 million tons), up from 76.3% in 2006.
  • The average corrugated box consists of 43% recycled fiber, (AF&PA).
  • The fiber in used corrugated is recovered and reused to make new products: 59.9% of recovered corrugated is used to make new containerboard. 15.3% goes into recycled paperboard, and exports account for 21.2%, (AF&PA).
  • Corrugated can be recycled an average of 7 times before the fibers become too short and they are filtered out as sludge during the pulping process. The sludge is then ready for disposal, but often has one more usage and that is as daily cover at landfills in place of soil.
  • U.S. corrugated manufacturing is a $24.7 billion industry, contributing to the GDP of America while supporting distribution of products throughout the world.
  • Corrugated is manufactured in the U.S.A., where approximately 1,300 facilities provide jobs and benefits to over 80,000 employees and their families.
  • Water-based inks are now used almost exclusively for printing graphics on corrugated containers, avoiding the use of lead-based inks and petroleum-based solvents which pollute the air and the water used to wash down printing equipment between color changes.
  • The single largest export from the United States was old corrugated containers and waste paper being shipped off to our Asian trading partners.
  • Corrugated is vital to the distribution systems in the U.S. It is the most frequently used shipping material because it is cost-effective, lightweight, functional and versatile. Its use contributes to more cost-efficient and fuel-efficient packaging of products from point of origin to point of sale and end use.
  • Cost Analysis Case Scenarios have been conducted comparing corrugated shipping containers to RPCs (returnable plastic containers).  Corrugated is more cost-effective in a total system cost analysis. To view the case studies, follow this link.
  • More wood grows in our nation’s forests than is harvested (about 49% more).
  • On an inflation-adjusted basis, the average cost of a corrugated container has decreased 11.7 percent from 1997 to 2007, (Fiber Box Association).
  • Corrugated packaging is custom designed for each product it protects, allowing the use of minimized materials and the most efficient space utilization possible by reducing “head space” within the package and maximizing cube efficiency in trucks.
  • Corrugated has the best recycling rate of any packaging material used today.
  • Asian corrugated boxes, which have been recycled many times due to chronic virgin fiber shortages in those countries, tend to be weaker and less resistant to water than U.S. corrugated boxes. The fiber quality of Asian OCC is so low that many American recycling mills exclude it from their processes.

What happens to old corrugated containers?

Old corrugated containers (OCC) are turned into:

Containerboard 59.9%
Recycled paperboard 15.3%
Tissue 1%
Packaging and industrial converting 1.6%
Exports to other countries 21.2%
Other 1.1%

Facts about recycling 1 ton of corrugated cardboard

17  Trees
Saved from having to be cut down and used for pulp
17  Gallons
of water saved
95  %
Cut in pollution
11  Barrels
462 gallons of oil saved
3  Cubic Yards
of landfill saved - Corrugated can be recycled an average of 7 times before the fibers become to short and they are filtered out as sludge during the pulping process. The sludge is then ready for disposal, but often has one more usage and that is as daily cover at landfills in place of soil.

How does Deline stay committed to sustainability?