CPC Celebrates Boxing Days with Recycling

The Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC), Rolling Meadows, Ill., has recently celebrated its ninth annual Boxing Days recycling event. 

Boxing Days is a grassroots, community event encouraging consumers to recycle their leftover corrugated boxes after the holiday season.

Boxing Days 2003 participating communities included Hot Springs, Arkansas; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Morristown/Hamblen County, Tennessee.  Each participating community has promoted Boxing Days for several consecutive years. Since the program’s introduction in 1994-95, 11 North American communities have participated. 

Events are designed to increase public support for recycling corrugated boxes and packaging.  Consumers today are justifiably concerned about disposable packaging’s impact on the environment.  The beauty of corrugated packaging is that it is widely and repeatedly recyclable – more than 75 percent was recovered for recycling in 2000.  Market demand for old corrugated containers (OCC) is consistently strong because paper mills need the recovered fiber to make new corrugated board.

The corrugated industry is not satisfied with its commendable 75 percent recovery rate, even though it far surpasses that of other package materials. The industy estimates that approximately 95 percent of corrugated could be recycled, if more consumers and businesses shared in that goal.   

Boxing Days events help remind consumers and local businesses that their used boxes can and should be recycled.   Corrugated cardboard's useful life extends far beyond its shipping destination, as it can be recycled over and over again into new, equally durable and protective corrugated boxes for shipping more products wherever they need to go.

To support community Boxing Days events, the corrugated industry provides educational materials and information about recycling.  They also coordinate local publicity to help promote participation.

Nationwide, community interest in Boxing Days continues to grow each year.  The program’s popularity has compelled the CPC to begin redesigning the event for wider, future implementation.  A newly transformed Boxing Days format will be announced later this year for future holiday seasons. 

 For more information, or to provide suggestions for the new Boxing Days format, contact the Corrugated Packaging Council (Cheryl Young, 401-884-3701 or Heather Marshall, 847-364-9600).  Boxing Days information can also be found online at www.corrugated.org. 

The Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC) is a non-partisan coalition that develops and coordinates industry-wide programs to address corrugated packaging issues.  The Council is sponsored by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC) and the Fibre Box Association (FBA).