One World Boxed Up: The Future of Cardboard in Modern Society

Cardboard boxes are used for much more than delivering packages to your doorstep. They are the practical solution to moving and storage.  Available in a multitude of sizes and shapes, they stack to facilitate an easy transportation process. Cost effective to consumers, many businesses are now turning to shipping boxes as a means of advertising and branding their messages to audiences. The unboxing experience is made memorable with custom printed messaging deeming boxes an exceptional and no longer overlooked marketing tool while conveniently delivering goods to retailers in a protective fashion.

The overall volume of packages being shipped is rising, and our boxes are traveling further through networks than ever before. While your packages may occasionally be damaged, dropped, or subject to harsh weather conditions, the box manages a successful delivery rate the bulk of the time.

There’s been a positive shift in consumer awareness resulting in an increased focus on recyclable materials and waste reduction. Some consumers are agitated by the amount of waste due to insufficient packaging. A large volume of some boxes are unused, empty space, adding to cost. The packaging industry has called for increasing utilization rates, frustration free packaging to keep boxes intact, and more calls to action for consumers to recycle repurpose their boxes. Recycling boxes conserves our resources, protects our environment and contributes to a circular economy, making the alternatives of bio degradable plastic virtually a non competitor for the time being.

While a cardboard box can only be recycled seven to ten times before the fibers grow too weak, one thing we know for sure is, a cardboard box lives on. It lives on by transforming back to paper, or perhaps it’s a child’s imagination comes to life as reconstructed rocket ship. It’s the dusty old storage bin of beloved frames passed down for generations, the containers our vegetables arrive to big box stores in, only for it to have one final landing place as the bag in which we bring those fresh foods home to. Cardboard boxes remain in constant use in modern society. They are protective, recyclable, cost effective, renewable, and highly reusable by consumers.

The potential of cardboard is constantly being pushed through ongoing research and innovation, revealing its versatility and wide range of applications. Although it is the backbone of ecommerce, with the industry surpassing 300 billion dollars, cardboard has proven its worth beyond this particular sector. It offers much more to modern society than just as a packaging solution.  The versatility of the corrugated box bodes well for continual use of cardboard well into our future.