Waxed Cardboard

Put in Garbage Cart/Bin

Wax = Plastic

The “wax” that you can scrape off is actually polyethylene, a plastic that keeps the cardboard inside from getting soggy. Waxed cardboard is mostly used by retailers (for shipping produce), so unless you’ve brought your groceries home in a produce box, you most likely don’t have it in your home.

Glossy Is Not Waxed

Glossy cardboard and paper is not waxed. If you can’t scrape the “wax” off with your fingernail, it’s most likely paperboard and therefore recyclable.

Did You Know?

50-Year-Old Boxes

Because of their chemical coating, waxed cardboard boxes can take up to 50 years to break down in a landfill. Annually we send 600,000 tons of them to landfills.