Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light brown in color, depending on the specific product; dyes, pigments, printing, and coatings are available.
The term "cardboard" has general use in English and French,[1] [2] but the term cardboard is deprecated in commerce and industry as not adequately defining a specific product.[3] Material producers, container manufacturers,[4] packaging engineers,[5] and standards organizations,[6] use more specific terminology.
In 2020, the United States hit a record high in its yearly use of one of the most ubiquitous manufactured materials on earth, cardboard. With around 80 percent of all the products sold in the United States being packaged in cardboard, over 120 billion pieces were used that year.[7] In the same year, over 13,000 separate pieces of consumer cardboard packaging were thrown away by American households, combined with all paper products, and this constitutes almost 42 percent of all solid waste generated by the United States annually. In an effort to reduce this environmental impact, many households have started repurposing cardboard boxes for eco-friendly purposes.
However, despite the sheer magnitude of paper waste, the vast majority of it is composed of one of the most successful and sustainable packaging materials of modern times - corrugated cardboard, known industrially as corrugated fiberboard.[8]
| Generation | 14,110 | 21,400 | 26,350 | 32,680 | 39,940 | 39,640 | 37,680 | 39,920 | 41,060 | 41,900 | |
| Recycled | 2,740 | 3110 | 7,210 | 12,070 | 21,040 | 23,610 | 26,850 | 31,200 | 30,080 | 33,890 | |
| Composed | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Combustion with Energy Recovery | - | 70 | 380 | 3,500 | 3,670 | 2,920 | 1,920 | 1,710 | 2,160 | 1,570 | |
| Landfilled | 11,370 | 18,220 | 18,760 | 17,110 | 15,230 | 13,110 | 8,910 | 7,010 | 8,820 | 6,440 |
See main article: Card stock.
Various types of cards are available, which may be called "cardboard". Included are: thick paper (of various types) or pasteboard used for business cards, aperture cards, postcards, playing cards, catalog covers, binder's board for bookbinding, scrapbooking, and other uses which require higher durability than regular paper.
See main article: Paperboard. Paperboard is a paper-based material, usually more than about ten mils (0.01inches) thick. It is often used for folding cartons, set-up boxes, carded packaging, etc. Configurations of paperboard include:
Currently, materials falling under these names may be made without using any actual paper.[10]
See main article: Corrugated fiberboard. Corrugated fiberboard is a combination of paperboards, usually two flat liners and one inner fluted corrugated medium. It is often used for making corrugated boxes for shipping or storing products. This type of cardboard is also used by artists as original material for sculpting.[11]
Most types of cardboard are recyclable. Boards that are laminates, wax coated, or treated for wet-strength are often more difficult to recycle. Clean cardboard (i.e., cardboard that has not been subject to chemical coatings) "is usually worth recovering, although often the difference between the value it realizes and the cost of recovery is marginal".[12] Cardboard can be recycled for industrial or domestic use. For example, cardboard may be composted or shredded for animal bedding.[13]
The material had been first made in France, in 1751, by a pupil of Réaumur, and was used to reinforce playing cards.The term cardboard has been used since at least 1848, when Anne Brontë mentioned it in her novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.[14] The Kellogg brothers first used paperboard cartons to hold their flaked corn cereal, and later, when they began marketing it to the general public, a heat-sealed bag of wax paper was wrapped around the outside of the box and printed with their brand name. This development marked the origin of the cereal box, though in modern times the sealed bag is plastic and is kept inside the box. The Kieckhefer Container Company, run by John W. Kieckhefer, was another early American packaging industry pioneer. It excelled in the use of fiber shipping containers, particularly the paper milk carton.