Charlotte region, NC and SC I-85 I-77 I-40
I-85
Gaylord recycling has two parts: reuse the box if it is dry and sound, and bale it as OCC if it is wet, torn or crushed. One request covers both, so you do not need to sort the whole pile first.
A dry, square gaylord is still a container. The cheapest recycling is a second job: a plastics plant puts regrind in it, a parts maker ships a few hundred pounds in it, a warehouse keeps it for returns. When the box has more trips left, the baler can wait. That is the thing we ask first.
Old corrugated containers are the recycling grade that a box becomes once it is wet, torn or crushed and cannot hold a load. A corrugated box in that state is worth its fiber. US corrugated boxes had a recycling rate of 96.5 percent in 2018 (source), so the baler is a normal and good end for a box that is done.
| Test | Pass | Fail |
|---|---|---|
| Does the box stand on its own? | Reuse | OCC if it folds |
| Is the bottom whole? | Reuse | OCC if missing |
| Is the board dry? | Reuse | OCC if soaked |
| Do the walls hold their shape? | Reuse | OCC if crushed |
Knock the boxes down flat and stack them on a pallet or in the baler. Take out liners, tape tails and metal straps if you can. A box full of poly scraps is harder to bale and is better set aside for a person to look at.
Most stacks are mixed. A dock team that takes boxes off a trailer, flattens them and stacks them gets a pile with maybe a third that would pass reuse. Do not sort in advance; send a rough split, like most are good with some wet at the bottom of the stack. Say in the request which part is which.
People search for a gaylord recycling bin when they mean a collection container for cardboard. If you want something to put OCC in, that is a different job from the one on this page. If you want empties taken away, that is what the pickup page is about.
Read the grading guide so you can name the condition, then send the request. Our sell hub has the full list of what to say.
Corrugated loses much of its strength when humidity rises: about half of its compression strength between 50 and 90 percent relative humidity (source), and stacking strength often falls to about half its potential above 85 percent (source). That is why a box that has dried out can still look fine and be weaker than it appears. If a stack was wet and dried, say so; we ask the same question the baler would.
Scrap and recycling operations are the buyers who most often want Grade C boxes: heavier creasing, taped repairs, fewer trips left, good for collection and one-way shipping of scrap, film or textiles. A stack that is too worn for a plastics plant may be exactly right for them. That is why the first question is not whether a box is perfect, but who could still use it.
US corrugated boxes had a recycling rate of 96.5 percent in 2018 (source). Recycling is therefore a normal end for a box, not a failure. The point of asking about reuse first is to give a box one more job before it goes there, not to avoid the baler.
Remove strapping, plastic liners, loose staples and any non-paper tape before a stack goes to a baler, if you can. Boxes that held oils or chemicals should be separated and described, since a baler may refuse them. Wet cartons should be kept away from dry ones, because moisture spreads through a stack. Writing this down saves a call.
Reuse takes fewer resources than recycling, and a Grade B or Grade C box often has several trips left. We ask whether the stack can serve again before we ask where it can be baled. If it cannot, you still get an honest answer, and the stack goes to the right end.
Balers pay attention to contamination because a bale with plastic liners, metal strapping or food residue is harder to sell to a mill. A stack that arrives flat, dry and free of liners is the easiest to handle. A stack that arrives wet or oil-stained may be refused outright. The recycling rate for US corrugated boxes is high precisely because most of it is clean and sorted at the source.
A wet or crushed box is worth its fiber as OCC. It is not worth a place on a pallet as a container.
Yes, knock them down flat and stack them dry. Flat stacks are easier to move and to count.
Remove liners first when you can. Plastic in the bale makes it harder to sell.
Count, footprint and wall count are enough to start.
No prices, minimums or times are stated here.