Sustainably Extraordinary
Recycling Success
Corrugated is Sustainable. Corrugated is Recycled. Corrugated packaging is an extraordinary recycling success story.
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Corrugated packaging is an extraordinary recycling success story.
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In 2025, 70–75% of cardboard available to be recycled in the U.S. was recycled and turned into new products.
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More than 33 million tons of cardboard were recycled in the U.S. in 2025, or more than 90,000 tons every day.
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Corrugated boxes can be recovered through established residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial programs.Â
- In the U.S., 79% of Americans have access to a community residential curbside recycling program.
The Corrugated Recycles Symbol
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The Corrugated Recycles symbol can be used worldwide as a cue to box users that the package can and should be recycled.
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There is no cost or registration process to use the symbol.
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Use of the symbol on corrugated packaging is strongly supported and encouraged as long as there are no national or local laws or regulations prohibiting its use.
Click here for usage guidelines and/or to request high-resolution images.
Click here for information on recyclable wax alternatives.
The Corrugated Cardboard Recycling Process
Businesses, retailers and consumers at home collect and return their used corrugated containers to be recycled into new ones. While almost everyone contributes to corrugated’s recycling success, fewer people may know where those boxes go from the collection point, or how they are processed to produce new corrugated material. Here’s how corrugated is recycled:
Click here for a full PDF from the Fibre Box Handbook of the corrugated recycling process.
