Cardboard boxes are not really made of cardboard but corrugated fiberboard. The first commercial cardboard box was produced in England in 1817 and in America in 1895. The major increase in the use of cardboard boxes came when Kelloggs started using them for their flaked cereals. There is even a cardboard box museum in France called Musée du Cartonnage et de l'Imprimerie which means “Museum of the Cardboard Box” in Valréas where cardboard boxes where used since 1840 for transporting the Bombyx mori moth and its eggs from Japan to Europe by silk manufacturers.

What are corrugated cardboard boxes made of?
Corrugated cardboard consists of two layers of cardboard, also called 'liners' and a corrugated central part called 'fluting' (deriving from the English word flute). The liner is manufactured from long fibres in order to make it strong and hard-wearing. The fluting is manufactured from short fibres in order to make it stiff and resistant to pressure. This is single wall, there is also double and triple wall corrugated cardboard.

What can cardboard boxes be used for?
Boxes are ideal for a number of uses including shipping products, as moving boxes for moving home, shipping items sold on ebay or other online auction sites. Cardboard boxes can also be used as a toy for children as they often love to use their imagination to portray the box as an infinite variety of objects.

Are cardboard boxes bad for the environment?
Most local authorities have schemes to collect cardboard and recycle the cardboard boxes, alternatively you can take your boxes to a local recycling bank. If you collect your cardboard to recycle in a cardboard box then you will not have to separate it later.
Cardboard is also biodegradable and decomposes when sent to landfill unlike plastic.

Kevin Thomas works for Davpack, a uk packaging supplier. Their friendly staff are waiting to help you choose the right packaging for your business. www.davpack.co.uk

Text and content © Copyright of Davenport Paper Co. Ltd 2008