We Need a New Strategy for Recycling Cardboard in the US

Ever wonder what happens to cardboard that you put into your recycling bin? Ever wonder what all those retail stores do with all that cardboard that everything comes in? Well, once the boxes are crushed they are sent for recycling, turns out cardboard is actually worth something, and there is a shortage, most of it ends up in "empty" cargo containers going back to China. The Chinese are huge buyers of our recyclables, cardboard very much included. Most of the boxes we get in the mail or delivered are made from recycled material, but not all.

Indeed, our think tank was discussing this not long ago, and we did a little experiment to see, one of our members told us that he saw a stamp on one of his cardboard boxes - made in the US, and it was virgin cardboard not from recycled material, see we do make something still in the US besides airliners and hamburgers. I told our think tank man; "I am very happy to see that your Virgin Cardboard Box was actually made in the USA, as I am sure you are as well."

Is there a better way to recycle cardboard making it stronger next-round? What if we add ingredients as it is broken down during the recycling phase, then during the next recycling phase, it might require a different process than current, although if the added ingredients are broken down, dissolved and precipitated out, like the clear packaging tape is, during a very similar process, then we can win this way. No upgrades needed.

Still, if upgrades are needed, we catch the Chinese off their game, meaning we have to process the cardboard from here on out, as they will not have the facilities yet, and we can ship rolls of product back to them in the cargo containers rather than crushed and bundled cardboard cubes strapped with ties. What if we were to add rubber strands from old tires also recycled?

If the rubber remains equally distributed in the mulch, perhaps not much has to be done, micro-fine ground sawdust is highly flammable, but highly abundant around pre-fab components for building houses, lumber yards, furniture factories (unfortunately few left in the US - NAFTA sent them to Mexico, now however in Asia). So, sawdust is an abundant material it seems. Aren't there stringent regulations on sawdust in the US? I mean OSHA, EPA, fire rules, etc.? It would be nice to get the rubber you mention from used tires, although that might be tough too due to the toxins in the melting of rubber + the steel from the steel belted radial tires for strength - surely something to consider.