Recycler Spotlight: Breaking Down Cardboard With Greif
Have you ever wondered what happens to your cardboard after it leaves your office or home? SWACO partner, Greif helps shed new light on the recycling journey.
Greif produces 100% recycled paperboard and packaging. Its Recycling Group collects and processes recyclables; the Paper Mill Group turns them into paperboard, and the Paper and Packaging Group converts that material into finished products like boxboard, slip sheets, tubes, and cores.
The first step, once cardboard is picked up from a business or dropped off at Greif is to compact the loose material into bales. Baling makes cardboard easier to handle, store, and transport efficiently. Then it can be shipped to a paper mill where it is broken down into fibers.
At the mill, the cardboard is loaded into a pulper with water and some chemicals to clean the fibers, and then piped to machines that convert it into rolls of paper which can then be processed into new products that are sold to many industries.
Not only does recycling cardboard have environmental benefits, but some haulers and recyclers offer rebates for bailed or sorted cardboard, so it can also benefit businesses financially, allowing them to make money from their waste instead of paying to take it to the landfill.
From collection to creation of new materials, Greif shows how a simple cardboard box can become a valuable resource again. By taking small steps to recycle properly, we can all help reduce waste and keep materials in use.
Quick Tip:
Break down your boxes to save room in your recycling cart, and keep them clean and dry so that they’re easy to handle.
Free Bins, Custom Plans. Start a Recycling Program.
SWACO will help your business launch and sustain a recycling or composting program, including covering the cost of containers, signage, and start-up hauling.
SWACO Business Champions receive:
- Free assessment of your waste stream & a custom action plan.
- Free recycling & composting containers.
- Free signage.
- 6 months of recycling or composting hauling reimbursement.
NEW Champions Directory
Showcases Central Ohio Businesses
From Aardvark Beer and Wine in Linworth to Good Land Ohio in Franklton and Worthington Enterprises, Central Ohio businesses are becoming recycling and composting champions.
SWACO’s new digital directory showcases each of their programs with the central Ohio community and is available to for-profit businesses which complete either SWACO’s Business Recycling or Food Waste Champion program.
See who we’re working with…
| Number of Business Recycling Champions and Food Waste Champions to date: | 42 |
| Tons of waste accepted at the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill so far in 2026: | 526,259 |
| Percentage of material coming to the landfill that is recyclable or compostable: | 76% |
Recycling Support Available for Apartment & Condo Owners, Too
When choosing where to live, today’s renters are making decisions based on their ability to reduce their environmental footprint. Recycling is one of the best ways to do that.
If you own or manage apartments or condos, SWACO can help you bring recycling to your property.
A Waste & Recycling Podcast by SWACO
Each month we sit down with guests from across central Ohio to discuss innovative waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting efforts underway in our community.
Check out our latest episode.
