Recycling Cardboard - Staging Area

[bradleykd]

We have a lot of cardboard boxes coming through our house from deliveries. We do most of our shopping online. I don't like throwing that stuff in the trash, so I always recycle it. Unfortunately, my rural trash pickup does not offer recycling as an option, so I have to stage it in the garage, then every couple/few weeks I load it up in the truck and take it to the recycling center.

I don't have a good way to stage it while it accumulates though. My wife tends to open the door and punt the box into the middle of the floor out there, then I break them down and stack them. I've tried using a roll-off trash can, but it is a pain to jam boxes in there vertically and even more of a pain to get them all out when it comes time to load them in the truck.

I want to build something to contain the cardboard while it accumulates that will be easy to get everything out of to load in the truck when the time comes.

Any ideas?

 

[4xdog]

I do it with a large corrugated box. For example, a new Kohler one-piece toilet is going in upstairs this week, and that largish box will be used to hold a lot of collapsed cartons and other paperboard. When it's full -- as in stuffed full -- it all goes in one swell foop.

 

[JeepinMike]

IBC tote cage? Too big?

 

[niget2002]

I have this problem too.

Still trying to train the kids to break boxes down. The wife does a good job of it.

The best thing we've done is to get a big plastic storage container. The boxes all go into it. When it's full, the wife takes it to her work. Probably every other week or so. If you're trying to store more than that to make less trips, then I guess get more than one container?

 

[jh87]

At my work, we have a wooden box on wheels with one side in grooves so when it’s time to be unloaded into the big dumpster outside (specifically for cardboard) it can be rolled out and the one side is lifted off so it can be unloaded.

 

[bdbecker]

I rigged up a jig for bundling up sticks and branches for our city yard waste pickup service - I wonder if you couldn't adapt the idea for use with cardboard? Pile the sticks (or in your case, cardboard boxes) into the u-shaped cradles, then tie them into bundles using twine when the cradle gets full.

View media item 91422
The BradBilt Bundle-Maker 3000 is patent pending, but I'll license the concept to you for a small fee. (joking of course)

View media item 91421

 

[Maverickv46]

Its a bit more work, but I break the boxes down and then use a blade to cut into manageable rectangles which get stacked vertically inside of a non broken down box. Worked really well before we got the curbside can and I still cut them up even now to save space inside the can.

 

[firebirdparts]

You do need to flatten adn stack vertically, that I agree with. No other solution if you actually park cars there. A closed container would never work for us. We have an attached 22 by 22 that you would park daily drivers in, and in a garage that small, you just have a couple areas you can get to that you can stack cardboard. My wife stupidly had a built-in cabinet made which fills the area next to the man door, so our only hope is to put it between cars and walk around. but then of course we all need the exercise.

 

[dogdog]

I just use the biggest box sized to fit and break down / flatten the rest to store it.... and tie it together on recycling day.

on the side note, have any one make fire / smoke log out of them to burn ? Saw a video of some one doing that... not sure, never burn fire-logs in my Chimney.

 

[liliysdad]

I use the larger flat pieces for patterns, templates, and to paint on....the rest gets tossed in the garbage.

This thread tells me I will keep doing it that way.

 

[Keithinsc]

We keep a big cardboard box in the corner of the garage, all the flattened cartons get stuffed into that.
It was from a mitersaw I bought 11 years ago. Fixed up and repaired with duct tape. More tape than cardboard by now, but it outlasted the mitersaw that came in it!

 

[Mattlt]

What others have said about using a wooden or cardboard box to hold the larger stuff together.

Another suggestion is to save a box such as a large cereal box to use to stuff some of the smaller pressboard boxes in (mac and cheese boxes and such.) That's what always gets me, when the small stuff slides out of the bundle and I'm left chasing it across the yard.

That said, I usually burn most of our cardboard in my outdoor wood boiler.

 

[dogdog]

I also enjoying stomping them flat instead of logically cut out the tape and flatten / fold it in a civilized way... , takes out the anger issues...

 

[budget76]

I use the larger boxes to stomp then stuff the smaller boxes into and pile up in the woodshop. once it piles up enough to annoy me, which usually coincides with the rubbermaid being full of scrap wood, it all goes outside and gets burned.

I'm for recycling, but after all the energy expended to recycle it i'm not sure burning is really any worse for the environment. and stuffing it into the can is a PITA - last time I left a full box ******* on bulk pickup day they didn't take it, then it rained, and it was all junk anyway

 

[bradleykd]

Some good ideas. The issue with stuffing it all in the biggest box is that mostly they are all the same size. I guess I just have never had the nerve to keep the big box. I usually take it with the rest in there... lol

I was thinking about making a large (30hX36Wx18d) 3 sided box out of wood. Using a truck cargo net for the front. Pile in the cardboard, then pull the net off for easy unloading and use it to keep the cardboard from blowing out on the drive....

 

[bbbarracuda]

I recycle mine directly back to carbon. Using fire.

 

[like2wheel]

I recycle mine directly back to carbon. Using fire.

Same.

Except I first throw them all in the shed, so I'll have the perfect size shipping box for when I Ebay off some of my extremely valuable stuff that I never use anymore. Then that doesn't happen, so when I run out of room I have a big burn in the burn pit when the wind is blowing in the right direction.
Rinse & repeat.



.

 

[kaymccampbell]

We put them in the shed with the garbage cans. When they fill their allotted space, we slit them, knock em down, and deliver them to the cardboard bin at the town garage.

 

[nafterclifen]

I have a large cardboard box inside the garage next to the door going into the house. You don't even need to leave the house to dispose of cardboard. Amazon boxes, cereal boxes, etc. Flatten, open door and toss. Then I burn. At least once a month, sometimes a lot more depending on volume.

 

[Mr_fixit]

Use a cardboard box. break down and stack flat on edge. when the box is full, get rid of it and start over.

 

[Andy Kraus]

I use this to cut my cardboard into smaller, manageable pieces for recycling. Only takes a few minutes to do a weeks worth or more of cardboard.

Significant other enjoys it so much, she is the one who usually gets to it first...works for me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019CSHSW8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Nowater]

Lay it flat in the garden to keep down the weeds. The worms will eat it after a while. I use multiple layers. A light cover of mulch makes it look better if that is a concern for you.

 

[PugetDude]

No one around me takes corrugated boxes; they actually removed all the cardboard bins at All the the recycling centers. I called the city when we moved to find out where to recycle my moving boxes. The answer? “Take them to the landfill”

 

[FSrepair&fabrication]

Burning them is free. Just throw them on the pile and give it some gas and a light once a week. No valuable garage space taken up by trash.

 

[atwnsw]

My wife and I have to drive 10-15 minutes to the recycling dump as there is no local trash pickup in NC mountains. We are only driving about 35 mph so it isn't high speed. We don't own a pickup truck but both cars have 2" trailer hitches.

I would like to find a lightweight (25lb +/-) option to transport not only cardboard boxes but also trash. In my best-case scenario, I would buy something like this but with folding arms so that I could lay the cardboard boxes vertically. This way, I could slide them next to each other rather than on top of each other. This would use less space. Yes, there would be more wind resistance but I am not going far or fast.

Imagine combining the rack with a bike carrier to accomplish trash haul on a horizontal carrier on some days and cardboard haul resting on the same carrier but having vertical arms to allow me to slide the boxes into place using bungee cords to hold them...

Does this exist? If so, can you share a link?

 

[PugetDude]

Burning them is free. Just throw them on the pile and give it some gas and a light once a week. No valuable garage space taken up by trash.

Now that's the most expensive option...

 

[nadogail]

Those Gas prices are even higher than in San Diego.

 

[Sumboodie]

I recycle mine directly back to carbon. Using fire.

Same, unless my trash can isn't very full and the trash guy is coming soon.

 

[ATC]

Burn them.

We pile ours up by the garage. Every few weeks, I toss them in the 55-gal drum and light them off while I'm out there piddling around...

 

[KEH]

there is a local shipping company that will accept cardboard boxes and packing material, like stryofoam so I drop the boxes off there.

KEH

 

[Jeff C]

I “stage” them in the back of my truck and throw in the cardboard dumpster at work whenever I think about it.

 

[dogdog]

Do you have a large back yard ? and does compost?

I now shred the brown non-plastic or shinny ones to confetti like and use in the compost bin as browns... works wonders..
coincidentally, I have a cheap shredder that some how shred up to 2 or 3 ply cardboard really well but doesn't shred paper well at all. go figure right ? you can roll them and run them through the cheap electric tree shredder like they sell in HF or SunJoe (amazon)