GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Looking at the tipping floor of the Kent County Recycling Center, where the trucks drop off all the recycling in a large pile, numerous cardboard boxes are visibly making up the heap.
In fact, cardboard recycling volumes have nearly doubled in the past few years.
"We tend to have more bails sitting around waiting for a truck to take it back to the paper mill," said Kristen Wieland, marketing and communications manager at Kent County Department of Public Works.
This can be attributed largely to online shopping, especially the past few years in the pandemic.
"The pandemic has shifted how consumers behave at home, and how they consume things" said Wieland, "There’s so much more online shipping, and how we purchase things is so different than we used to."
To keep up with demand, the center purchase a new piece of sorting equipment to help with all the cardboard a few years ago. It helps not only to sort, but making sure the cardboard is a good quality to take to the paper mills.
"Especially right now, there's difficulty getting labor for everyone," said Wieland, "Having that piece of equipment has really helped us ensure that we can still get cardboard to the paper mills."
There are some things Kent County residents can do to help. Make sure boxes are emptied. A lot of the inside packing materials are not able to be recycled at the center. Also, flattening boxes allows more recyclable material to be placed in bins.
However, more cardboard at the center is not a bad thing.
"We’d rather have it heaping full here," said Wieland, "Than it be sent to the landfill to never be recovered again."
You can find a drop off center near you by clicking here.
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