FACTS ABOUT CARDBOARD

Producing 1 ton of cardboard uses the following resources:

·         17 trees

·         288 litres of oil

·         26 497 litres of water

·         42,000 kilowatts of energy

It takes approximately 50 times more water to recycle cardboard than it does to recycle plastic. Recycling cardboard boxes requires massive amounts of water and energy in order de-ink, bleach, re-pulp, and breakdown the paper.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the use of reusable plastic containers versus cardboard boxes because of the reduction in waste and energy.

In a 1989 comparison study between paper and plastic, the Society of Plastics found that it takes 4 times the amount of energy to produce paper versus plastic. It also takes 91% less energy to recycle a 0.5kg of plastic versus a 0.5kg of paper.

According to the Canadian Federal Office of the Environment, paper production generates 50 times more water pollutants and 70% more air pollutants than production of plastic.

The average life-cycle of an Eco-box: 400 uses. The average life-cycle of a cardboard moving box: 2.5 uses.

According to a study by Bruyns et al 2002, The tonnage of paper and board recycled in the year 2000 was 770 000 tons. This equates to 39% of paper and board manufactured in the year 2000. (Bruyns et al, 2002). It is estimated that up to 30% of South Africa’s landfills are taken up by unrecycled cardboard boxes.

Why Eco-boxes?:

Eco-boxes vs. Cardboard Moving Boxes