At Kelly Box and Packaging we source our paper from a variety of vendors. Not every corrugated vendor is the same.They each have products that are better suited for some applications more than others. In addition the recycled content that our vendors provide to us often changes from run to run. As a result, it is virtually impossible to know the precise recycled content, unless we source from a completely recycled provider.
In some applications completely recycled material may be effective, but as anyone who has worked with 100% recycled material can attest, there are definitely cases where this is not a good solution. So we analyze the role the packaging plays, the characteristics of the product, its handling and environment to identify the best vendor at the best price for the raw sheets we use to produce our finished packaging. As a rule, all corrugated packaging will have some recycled content, and the amount of recycled content is increasing. Currently there is approximately 45-60% recycled content in the packaging we produce.
If you really want to know how much of the packaging is recycled content there are not too may ways to find out. Fundamentally a mass balance approach is recommended since no physical or chemical test method is currently available to determine absolute recycled content of a finished paper product. Mass balance is an application of law of conservation of mass to the analysis of physical systems by accounting for material entering and leaving a system.
But the real story is not about recycled content, but the down stream recover-ability and here corrugated truly shines. There is a thriving global market for OCC (Old Corrugated Container) and the recapture rates of corrugated are the best in the world. Much of this is reused and the share of the (RCP) Recycled Content Paper in Corrugated is rising.
