The Corrugated Packaging Industry

Some Fast Facts About Corrugated

More corrugated packaging is recovered for recycling than any other packaging material. The recovery rate for old corrugated containers (OCC) has hovered around 90 percent for the last decade. The average corrugated box contains 52 percent recycled content. 

More than 56 percent of U.S. forest are privately owned much of it, 39 percent, by family owners who manage their lands to provide value to future generations. (American Forest Foundation)

In 2021, the corrugated industry consumed 34 million tons of containerboard.

Ninety-four percent of Americans have access to community curbside or drop-off recycling programs. (AF&PA)

More trees live on American soil today than 50 years ago. Trees now cover one-third of U.S. land and more than 3.2 million new trees are being planted every day. (USDA, Forest Service) 

In 2022, the corrugated industry manufactured 401 billion square feet of material used to make boxes, displays and other corrugated packaging. This equated to 40 billion packages that safely shipped and protected food, clothing and durable goods for delivery to millions of domestic and worldwide customers. 

Use of bioenergy in the U.S. forest products industry prevent about 181 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere each year. That’s roughly equal to removing 35 million cars from the road. (AF&PA) 

Of the corrugated that was recovered in 2020, 55.2 percent was used to make new containerboard in the U.S. An additional 11.6 percent was used to make boxboard and 28.7 percent was exported to other areas of the world where virgin fiber sources are not available.

The corrugated industry supports education and training for future workforces in skilled careers through the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) which has donated $12.5 million in equipment and curriculum materials to post-secondary packaging schools over the last decade.