Seeking and Finding Wholeness

My city’s recycling instructions say not to recycle pizza boxes, I always wondered why they did not want to recycle pizza boxes.

Before we move on, we have to define what a pizza box is. Some pizza boxes are for frozen pizzas, others are used for home delivery. The later (home delivery) are often soiled with the pizza sauce and oil.

I always threw my (frozen) pizza boxes and frozen dinner boxes in the recycling bin. A pizza box is a box, if it is clean and has no pizza sauce all over it why can’t they just recycle it? I mean, many of the pizza boxes have the recycle symbol on them anyway, right? wrong!

It turns out that every box (made out of paperboard) that goes in your freezer is sprayed with a plastic coating that protects the contents against freezer burn. Once the material has this coating, it does not break apart as pulp in the cardboard recycling process.

Any box with this type of plastic coating (or waxy coating) is not recyclable.

In general, paperboard boxes are recyclable, so long as

• They haven’t gotten wet
• They haven’t been exposed to oil or grease (this is why pizza box bottoms aren’t recyclable)
• The plastic liner (common with food boxes) has been removed.

So what can you do about pizza or frozen dinner boxes?

Simple,

• Do not buy pizza in boxes, try to buy as little boxed frozen products as possible.
• Look for places that will take your pizza box and recycle it, they DO EXIST.
• If you just can’t recycle the boxes, try to compost them.

Can I recycle my delivery pizza box?

Pizza boxes are made from corrugated cardboard which is recyclable, however the cardboard becomes soiled with grease, cheese, and other foods once the pizza has been placed in the box.

Once soiled, the paper cannot be recycled because the paper fibers will not be able to be separated from the oils during the pulping process.

Food is a major source of contamination in the various paper categories

Having said all that, there are places that accept even these greesy boxes.

In conclusion, even though you will find a lot of talk about pizza boxes not being recyclable, the truth is that if you try hard enough you will find a way to recycle them.

Remember to always try to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle