NYT Magazine Article Overlooks Importance Of Recycled Content BY RACHEL KAGAN In the November 28th New York Times Magazine article, Where Does All the Cardboard Come From? I Had to Know,
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
GARTECH MANUFACTURING COMPANY www.gartechmfg.com
writer Matthew Shaer does a deep dive on what he refers to as the “cardboard economy” – everything from the his- tory of who invented it, how it’s made, and its global marketplace. First off, to us at PPEC, while “card- board” is a commonly used term that we all understand – the box our deliv-
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THE HAIRE GROUP www.hairegroup.com
Rachel Kagan
Haire Group is the premier provider of new machinery for the corrugated industry. As the exclusive US & Canadian agent for one of the largest machinery manufacturers in the world, Haire Group is able to pair clients with the best machinery solutions for the best value to meet their spe- cific needs. As an operating partner of the US-based DFA Technical Support Center (a joint venture of Haire Group and Dong Fang), Haire Group delivers 24/7 professional, re- liable service and support, maximizing quality and uptime. Haire Group has been the industry’s #1 pre-owned machin- ery broker and plant equipment appraiser since 1976. HarperLove is the leading provider of specialty adhesives, performance additives, and wet-strength resins to corru- gated packaging manufacturers. With the largest and most experienced field service and technical support team posi- tioned throughout the U.S. and Latin America, HarperLove has a long-standing reputation for providing outstanding service and delivering demonstrable performance improve- ments. HarperLove’s renowned services include not only innovative product development and custom product for- mulation, but also machine and process assessments, ad- hesive formula adjustments, machine tuning, detailed ser- vice reporting, and more. HARPERLOVE www.HarperLove.com
eries come in – the industry terms are a bit different. A corrugated box is made from strong paper fibres, comprising a top and bottom layer of paper fibre known as linerboard, and a middle layer, called corrugating medium, which is the wavy part that gives the box its strength. While a boxboard or paperboard carton typically only holds a single item – i.e. cereal or shoes – it does not re- quire the same strength properties as a corrugated box, so you won’t see any wavy ripples in those. But back to the article. While it is mostly focused on the scale and size of the international market for corrugat- ed packaging – which is expected to reach an estimated $205 billion by 2025, according to the article – it does refer to some of the environmental attributes of corrugat- ed packaging, noting that it is “more recyclable than other shipping methods,” and even likens it to a classic fairy tale: “Corrugated packaging has a Goldilocks quality to it,” says Tim Cooper, a project director for the market-re- search and testing firm Smithers. “It’s easy to produce, it’s strong and it’s sustainable, because unlike plastic, it comes from a renewable resource.” We agree that it is strong and sustainable, but there is nothing fictional about the environmental sustainability of corrugated packaging. What Goldilocks needs to under- stand is that not only is it recyclable, it is actually and ac- tively recycled, allowing it to be reused again and again. Using recycled content is an inherent part of the Ca- nadian paper packaging industry’s operations. PPEC member mills have been using recycled paper fibres for decades. It makes environmental and business sense to recycle and reuse old paper packaging, including Old Corrugated Cardboard, so it can be remade into new pa- per-based packaging products again and again, keeping valuable raw material out of landfill. While the New York Times article reports on its high re- cycling rates in the U.S., it does not discuss the importance of recycled content, making it sound like boxes are made mostly from trees. In fact, trees are mentioned in the article 16 times, while recycling is mentioned 11 times. The sustainable management of forests, and what hap- CONTINUED ON PAGE 42
KIWIPLAN www.kiwiplan.com
Kiwiplan - premier worldwide software provider of enter- prise-wide, fully automatic solutions specifically for the cor- rugating and packaging industries. Kiwiplan’s Total Solution delivers comprehensive, seamless real-time flow of infor- mation from sales order management to dynamic total plant scheduling and inventory control through shipping.
MAROTECH INC. www.marotech.com
Manufacturer of Marotape®, Marotape®Plus, Marotape® FPT and MaroString™; hot melt coated tapes and strings used for reinforcement and easy-open features for packaging. Ma- rotech also manufactures dispensing and tape placement equipments to optimize the productivity of applying hot melt coated tapes.
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December 12, 2022
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