Carolina Paperboard

The fibers from the cereal box and newspaper that you put into the recycling container may come back to you as paperboard -- in a shoe box, the back of your composition book, or the tube that holds Christmas wrapping paper.

This area is home to some longtime recycling professionals. Carolina Paperboard was founded in Charlotte in 1938, and is still manufacturing 100% recycled paperboard in 2008. I toured the plant with Jennifer Woracheck, a process engineer and the Safety Coordinator. They move mountains of mixed paper, shown in the photo above. They process it in the original brick building, with the same machinery, producing around 170 tons of paperboard per day.

Carolina Paperboard is now a member of Caraustar Industries. With over 60 plants, 12 of them in the Carolinas, Caraustar is one of America's largest manufacturers of recycled paperboard and packaging solutions. Various plants produce tubes and packing cartons. Others make packaging for ink cartridges, crackers, or tissues, such as these, right.

The company is socially responsible, committed to environmentally sound practices. For twenty years, the Charlotte plant has had a closed water system; no water from the manufacturing process is discharged outdoors or into the sewage system. Carolina Paperboard has a friendly atmosphere, with low employee turnover. A highlight of my tour was this mural, left, painted on a shop wall by an employee. The map was a fitting background for the company's vision statement. We give a green thumbs up to Carolina Paperboard!

Office Upgrade

In our local Office Max, I found new packing materials friendly to the environment. Care Mail's biodegradable peanuts are made from recycled materials. They also have non-peanut packing made from 100% recycled paper, folded very small. That will do the trick; and it can be recycled again, with mixed paper. Other mailing cartons and wrappings are labeled with reminders that Corrugated cardboard can be recycled. Online, I found Office Max Biodegradable Packaging Peanuts. Made from corn starch, they will decompose in water when they can no longer be reused.

It's good to know that refilling ink cartridges for certain printers can now be done in their store. If your printer is a model they service, you can drop the cartridge off and pick it up later.

I am also pleased to find Office Max carrying paper towels, napkins, and bathroom paper made by Marcal, shown at left. It is made, "Paper from paper, not from trees," and is 100% recycled without chlorine bleaching. The price is right for their At Home & In The Office products, so I'll be taking some home.