What to do with cardboard?
‘Alexa, what’s on my shopping list?’
The rise of online shopping might make life easier, but it has resulted in many of us having extra cardboard boxes to get rid of. Luckily, cardboard is great for storage and easy to recycle at home if you can’t reuse it.
Household recycling collection
The main types of cardboard we find at home are corrugated cardboard (packing boxes) and the types used for food and drink packaging - such as cereal boxes, egg cartons, cardboard sleeves or boxes from ready meals etc. Both types are recyclable but councils sometimes collect them separately. Check therecycling locator to find out more about your local recycling scheme.
For online delivery boxes and cardboard envelopes, remove all plastic inserts and polystyrene, as well as packing tape.
Brown paper can also be recycled with card.
Household waste recycling centre (HWRC)
Yes, you can recycle cardboard at your local household waste recycling centre.
What card can’t I recycle?
Card that’s stained or dirty with paint, dirt, food or grease (like pizza boxes) or glitter-covered greetings cards as glitter can't be removed in the recycling process.
What can you do?
Cardboard boxes are great for storage - write the contents on the box so you can see at a glance what it contains.
Large cardboard boxes make great toy boxes - try decorating with left-over wallpaper or get creative with scraps of fabric to jazz them up.
Kids love to play with cardboard boxes - they can be anything from playhouses to fire engines, just add imagination!
Ask family and friends if they need them - large cardboard boxes are handy if moving house.
Recycling is constantly evolving and changing so check back for updates or try our recycling locator to find out what you can recycle at home and where you can recycle or pass on unwanted items in your local area.