Life Cycle of a Box

Posted in News, Sustainability
Last Updated: Last updated Mar 19, 2021

We make sure that each phase of a container’s production protects our customers and our planet. It’s important to us that our corrugated packaging is an environmentally sound choice: it’s renewable, recyclable, and compostable. Let’s take a closer look at the process.

1. Sustainable Yield Forest

The life of a box starts in a 100% sustainable-yield forest. More sophisticated than the clearcutting forestry of our great-great grandfathers, foresters divide land equally into 8 plots, each of which can provide enough wood to sustain operations for 1 year. As a tree takes approximately 8 years to grow, foresters harvest each plot once every 8 years, planting 3-4 new trees for each one they harvest. In this way, we can sustainably harvest wood much as we would harvest any other crop.

2. Paper Mill (Linearboard)

Coastal Container sources paper from suppliers that use a blend of approximately 30-40% recycled materials, with the remainder of material coming from sustainable yield forests. Wasting nothing during the production process, the mill scrapes off excess bark and sap and transforms those byproducts into a 100% renewable energy source to power their operation. 

4. Paper Mill (Corrugating Medium)

While the corrugated linerboard requires some virgin materials for structural stability, the corrugated medium (the middle or fluted component) is made from 100% recycled corrugated, wood or wood-like materials.

5. Corrugator

Corrugators transform raw paper materials into the corrugated materials we use to construct sturdy, reliable containers. 

6. Container Company

Packaging and container companies like Coastal Container use corrugated sheets to build containers that protect your product and reputation from dock to destination. 

7. Shipping

Companies all over the U.S. rely on Coastal’s corrugated containers to protect their products during shipping and storage. After they fulfil their purposes, containers can be recycled and combined with raw materials to create new paper materials.

Learn about how our commitment to sustainability affects how our containers are made and more in our Sustainability Report.

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