The Pizza Box Mystery
Many people assume that pizza boxes are recyclable. In fact, most boxes have recycling symbols on them and are traditionally made from corrugated cardboard. They are, in and of themselves, recyclable.
However, what makes parts of them non-recyclable is the hot, tasty treat that comes inside them, specifically, the grease and cheese from pizza that soil the cardboard.
So there you have it, pizza boxes that are tarnished with food, or any paper product that is stained with grease or food, are not recyclable – unless you remove the tainted portions.
But why is this? And what are the implications for the general, pizza-loving public? Mmm, pizza.
Andiamo a mangiare...and recycle too! Photo: Recyclingweek.planetark.org
How it Gets Recycled
Food is one of the worst contaminants in the paper recycling process. Grease and oil are not as big of a problem for plastic, metal and glass, as those materials are recycled using a heat process. But when paper products, like cardboard, are recycled, they are mixed with water and turned into a slurry. Since we all know water and oil don’t mix, the issue is clear.
Grease from pizza boxes causes oil to form at the top of the slurry, and paper fibers cannot separate from oils during the pulping process. Essentially, this contaminant causes the entire batch to be ruined. This is the reason that other food related items are non-recyclable (used paper plates, used napkins, used paper towels, etc).
“The oil gets in when you’re doing your process of making paper,” said Terry Gellenbeck, a solid waste administrative analyst for the City of Phoenix. “The oil causes great problems for the quality of the paper, especially the binding of the fibers. It puts in contaminants, so when they do squeeze the water out, it has spots and holes.”
But what about other things regularly found on paper products, like ink? “Most inks are not petroleum-based so they break down fast. Food is a big problem,” he said.
Also, be mindful of adhesives that may be on the pizza box (coupons, stickers, etc.) as those are contaminants. Known as “pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs)” these can ruin the recycling process just as much as oil or food remains.
Sneaks
Many people admit trying to “sneak” their pizza boxes in with cardboard boxes and such. In reality, this does more harm than good as the contaminated cardboard could ruin the whole recycling batch.
In fact, contamination in the recycling business is a big problem. Some estimates put the costs of irresponsible contamination in the neighborhood of $700 million per year industry-wide. Gellenbeck estimates that for the City of Phoenix, contamination costs them around $1 million annually, because of damage to machinery, disposal costs for the non-recyclable material and wasted time, materials and efficiency. With the City processing 129,000 tons of materials in 2008 (around 7 percent of this is cardboard), money is an important factor as to why residents should know what their municipalities do and do not accept.
So, What Do I Do?
The easiest remedy for this problem is to cut or tear out the soiled portions of your pizza boxes and trash them. For example, you can tear the top of the box off, recycle that and throw away the bottom part containing the grease. If the entire box is grease-free, the whole box can be recycled with a guilt-free conscience.
Another option to recycling cardboard is to compost it, although the grease rule still applies here as well. “Even with oils, you shouldn’t compost [greased cardboard]. It causes rotting, you get more bugs and smell and it’s just not good for the plants,” said Gellenbeck.
Most importantly, being well-versed on what your local recyclers accept, can make the biggest difference. “It all depends on where your processor sends your paper, too,” said Gellenbeck, whose authority applies only to the City of Phoenix. “If you can keep a particular thing like the food out, the plastics out, all those things that really shouldn’t be there, it would help.”
- (11/21/2008). "Tip of the Day - Don\'t Recycle That Pizza Box" GreenDaily.com http://www.greendaily.com/2008/11/21/tip-of-the-day-dont-recycle-that-pizza-box/.
- (06/17/2007). "What\'s the Deal With Recycling Pizza Boxes?" http://russelldad.blogspot.com/2007/06/whats-deal-with-recycling-pizza-boxes.html.
- "Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives: A Sticky Recycling Problem" California Integrated Waste Management Board http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/BIzWaste/OfficePaper/PSAFacts.htm.
- Gellenbeck, Terry. City of Phoenix(02/24/2009). Phone Interview.
Laura
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 12:30 am
Maybe we should develop a re-usable pizza “box” made of dish-washer safe plastic.
Lisa
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 am
It seems so simple, but I can’t count the times I’ve hemmed and hawed in front of the recycling bin with a pizza box. Great post!
colleen r dawson
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 11:14 am
I have a audiovox cell phone, when i purchased it ,no one told me it was used, i cant see the numbers the lights dont work and there is no color, i tried to exchange it or have it refurbished, now i am told the phone is absolete, and need to get a new one, is there anyone ,company out there that could fix my cell, i really like, it, or is it just a waste of time and money, should i just get a new one, colleen please answer
dawsoncolleen@yahoo.com
BeMoreEco » Pizza boxes are recyclable … right?
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 am
[...] shouldn’t be sneaking your grease-soaked pizza box into the recycling bin, you were right. Earth911 lays it out in black and white: “Pizza boxes that are tarnished with food, or any paper [...]
Richard
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Very good article. I had no idea that the food in a pizza box could keep it from being reclcled.
Kriten
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I was shocked when I read this article! I had no idea that if there was any food or grease on them thae weren’t recyclable! Thanks for making me better informed.
Bob
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I thought this artice was great because I have been throwing my pizza boxes away in the recyling trash can for many years, but now I will be able to stop.. Thank you EARTH911
Sangesh
posted on March 2nd, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Wow, this is an interesting fact. I knew that the pizza boxes were recyclable but didn’t know about the exception that if any food gets stuck in the box it does not get recycled at all.
Dust from PAGE
posted on March 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
The post is so true in my area I am trying to get the small pizza places to put a piece of wax paper or other insulator in so that the cardboard can be recycled. I know one they started using another piece of thin cardboard like a tray so that customers can take the pizza out and put it on the table. These things can prevent tainted cardboard.
JAZMINE
posted on March 3rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
wow!! and my mom owns a pizza plce so that will help ALOT!!!! = )
Jazmine
posted on March 3rd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
yeah, ur right “dust from page”thats what pizza factory does.
Cathy
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I’ve been laying the boxes face down on my garden paths. Originally I thought grass paths between my raised beds were pretty. But turns out to be very difficult upkeep. The boxes work well. I figure over time I’ll be able to dig out some great soil to add to the beds. (It is a little shocking how quickly I’m getting all the paths covered!)
Tony
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Here in Morgan Hill, we encourage our residents to place pizza boxes and other food-soiled paper products in with their yard trimmings for curbside collection. It’s a process that works great and really cuts down on the volume of trash….especially for families with lots of teenagers. People living in other communities should let their recycling company know that they’d like this service added.
Bobby
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:01 am
We visit our local pizzeria at least once per week and the first dozen or so times the owner and workers looked at me kind of strange as I kept bringing back my “gently used” pizza box. We have been reusing our box for a number of years, and our goal is to use no more than 3 boxes during a 12 month period. In 2008, we cut that down to 2 boxes – of course the folks at the pizzeria are now enjoying the fun as well – we kept track and last year we had 41 pizzas! We had a little ceremony in early January when it was time to get a new box and start keeping track again. The key of course is that the pizza maker is “gentle” on the box and we clean it as soon as we get home and take the pizza out. If after all it’s use we can keep it clean, we do then recycle it with our cardboard.
Julie
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:08 am
thanks! i was looking at a pizza box the other day.. I hate throwing the WHOLE thing away!Great article!! I will pass the news along!
Josh Gomez
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Maybe boxes should just be made out of pizza crust, then we can eat them!
diana
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:28 am
i make a solar cooker out of mine.
Josh Gomez
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:29 am
NomNomNom!
Dave Benjamin
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Yes, and pizza delivery people should wear gloves made out of Parmesan.
Jessica
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 11:47 am
In response to a comment above, pizza boxes are usually not allowed to be picked up with yard trimmings and green waste. If you live in San Francisco and your waste hauler collects compost, then yes you can mix your pizza box with your green waste. If your city does not collect compost, I doubt they will collect your pizza boxes with the yard trimmings. But as the comment stated, check with your waste hauler.
And thank you for posting this, I work in waste diversion and contamination is always an issue. Education is the one of the answers.
Joe
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Te truth is the disposable nature of the whole “call the pizza guy” process is what is flawed. I know most people don’t like to hear things like this, but the best solution is don’t buy the pizza in the first place. Think of the gas it takes to deliver just one meal. It’s more than what to do with the box. Walk to the restaurant and eat it there, or better yet, make you own.
Laura lee
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I like the idea of reusing your pizza boxes, like Bobby & family are doing. We live in a totaly dispossable world, I have adult kids and there out look is oh well i can go out and buy another, instead of being conciences of there surroundings
Brad
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I also like what “Dust from PAGE” says. I think some kind of insulator between the box and the pizza would be a good thing, but it would have to be either biodegradable or recyclable. The cardboard insert would be one option, but perhaps another option would be a (recyclable/durable) plastic insert that can be cleaned and returned to the pizza joint (for a pizza discount perhaps) or at the very least recycled. Trouble is, some people who are not up on their recycling might just throw it away with the box and this would add to the problem…
Tania Levy
posted on March 4th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
City of Berkeley recycling program: good comment about effect of food contamination on recycling paper. But “stickies” are not a problem. The paper mills added technology many years ago to remove self-adhesive labels, tape, cellophane windows etc. as they assume these materials will be present. Otherwise, they could not accept post-consumer paper.
Little Bit of Paper: The Importance of Recycling Paper « Recycle Raccoon’s Easy Going Green
posted on March 5th, 2009 at 7:45 am
[...] that cannot be recycled include any paper that has come into contact with wet or greasy food (i.e. pizza boxes or ice cream boxes) and wrapping paper. Also, when you get those credit card offers, make sure to [...]
Rick
posted on March 6th, 2009 at 12:58 am
This is not a consumer problem. It is a complaint by the recycling industry to avoid having to pay for an additional process to clean up what they bought or took for free. Consumers pay a hefty price for containers, advertising and seller’s profits in the total product cost and deserve safe, healthy food without accepting additional costs and burdens for container disposal. Why disposal costs are not part of a manufacturer’s responsibility, who design these containers, etc., is based on faulty property ownership laws and is nothing more than a sham. We buy the useable consumable product not the manufacturer’s distribution tool. This seems to me to be the recycling industry’s version of their “faith-based initiatives for profit.”
Joel
posted on March 6th, 2009 at 5:27 am
wow… -I had no idea the seriousness of this. I just assumed that a process that dissolved the food-grease (like benzene, as~used in the dry-cleaning business) might be used. I guess that this would contaminate the paper pulp too.
Great!
-Joel
The Pizza Box Mystery « SMFA Recycling
posted on March 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am
[...] The Pizza Box Mystery Posted by cjdombeck Filed in food, greeen, recycling Tagged: box, contaminated, Earth911, food, [...]
Jenn
posted on March 7th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Another option is a “Take and Bake” pizza place like Papa Murphy’s. They usually put the pizza on a thin piece of cardboard or thick wax paper that goes in the oven. And they just wrap it in cellophane instead of putting in a box. Or like someone else said make your pizza. It’s healthier too!
Patti
posted on March 7th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Very useful information! I certainly understand why pizza boxes should not be recycled due to the grease contaminant. The article also mentions paper plates, towels, and napkins. I often toss those items in for recycling if they don’t have grease stains or if they were used only for drying my hands after washing them with soap and water. So is this acceptable, or should they not be recycled at all??
Elizabliss
posted on March 8th, 2009 at 12:53 am
The grease wouldn’t be good for our own backyard composting, but what about earthworms? Can they handle the grease?
Pizza Boxes: Are They Recyleable? « Green Living
posted on March 9th, 2009 at 9:22 am
[...] sort of. While reading the article The Pizza Box Mystery, at Earth911.com, I found why parts of a pizza box, or any other paper product with left over food [...]
Michelle
posted on March 9th, 2009 at 9:58 am
This is a great article! I’m trying to plan a project for our grade school for earth day (all of april). Each week will be something different to raise awareness or a service project. I think this will work great!
Thanks! Michelle
Hao
posted on March 11th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I agree with Bobby and Laura Lee, reuse, reuse, reuse. Apply this with plastic bags as well.
Reduce , IMHO is the best method to a greener planet.
Solver
posted on March 13th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
If everyone who reads this board would simply barf up the pizza you eat, and recycle that, we could probably get rid of at least one landfill within a week. Within a month, the loss of that many needless airbreathers would allow us to close many more. Good grief, you people are so concerned about waste! What about time wasted? The amount you spend trying to feel better about yourselves while getting constipated staring at your big blue bin could be put to better use saving the economy! If so much of your stuff is getting recycled anyway, why does the damn recycled stuff still cost too much? I wonder how much problem all of our dirty diapers are causing in the recycled paper? Cut the damn trees down – they’ll grow back faster than you all will get back to useful work.
eric wood
posted on March 14th, 2009 at 10:42 am
In my pre-diabetes days, my kitchen was full of pizza and related produces and I blissfully tossed the empty boxes in the recycling. Thanks for the heads up. While my local pizza delivery guy has been having withdrawal symptoms from not being at my door for over a month, I will change my ways the next time I order.
Would be nice if the boxes were reusable.
http://www.goinggreenaccidently.blogspot.com
bill
posted on March 14th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
If the food and grease from the pizza are not recyclable. Then imagine consuming that in to your body. I love pizza as much as the next, but never knew the bi-product from it could damage or ruin an whole batch of recyclable cardboard.
To recycle pizza boxes « Vision
posted on March 16th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
[...] The Pizza box mystery, Earth911 [...]
Glen
posted on March 24th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Food is a major problem with recycling although it is not commonly known. Good article and useful information for the general consumer to have.
Lori Brown
posted on April 8th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
A viewer recently sent us this great website that makes reusable and recyclable pizza boxes called the Hybrid Pizza Box. Might be worth a look!
REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE the pizza box of the future « The Conservation Report
posted on May 8th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
[...] composting greasy pizza boxes: Another option to recycling cardboard is to compost it, although the grease rule still applies [...]
Todd Rubenack
posted on May 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Great article! I wanted to inform everyone of an emerging alternative to the pizza box that is not mentioned. I am a partner in Flat Pak Packaging, Inc and we offer the patented Flat Pak Pizza System that consists of a plastic bag and tray. It is a truly green solution to the pizza box as the bag is 100% recyclable with biodegradable componets and the tray is 100% compostable, made entirely from plant fibers so that NO TREES are used in its construction whatsoever! Pizza Hut reconfigured pizza boxes to save 275,000 trees a year in 1992. Imagine if we could eliminate corrugated from pizza COMPETELY how many trees we could save! Pricewise, the Flat Pak Pizza System is typically CHEAPER than the corrugated pizza box. Our website is currently being updated, but please visit when you have the chance. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. Thanks!!
Sri Julianti
posted on June 29th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Great articles. I think Pizza producer to provide the box with perforation, so that the consumer can trim the box easily.
Think Twice About That Pizza Box | Earth Promise
posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 5:48 am
[...] becomes unrecyclable, but the other paper that sits with it waiting to be recycled becomes ruined. Earth911 has a great post detailing the pizza box [...]
What sort of paper can be recycled? : Blisstree - Family, Health, Home and Lifestyles
posted on July 28th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
[...] pizza box, according to Earth 911 is not only not recyclable in most cases but may be contributing to a $700 [...]
Blogs » Blog Archive » thinking outside the (cardboard pizza) box :: Blogs :: PostStar.com
posted on August 5th, 2009 at 9:44 am
[...] then ponder 500 cardboard boxes, which can’t be composted because of the oily food residue, and which most localities will not accept for recycling for the same reason. Pizza boxes will eventually decompose, if they make it to a landfill and not an incinerator, but [...]
Holly
posted on August 9th, 2009 at 1:10 am
Thanks Lori! I love it any day that I learn something new and I, also, have stood at the recycler wondering yea or neigh…and then figured the food tainted it. I HAVE cut the bad part out and put the rest of the box into the bin, so now I feel good about that! I will begin to remove the pizza when it comes home and before it gets soiled with grease.
bernard b carman
posted on August 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
i generally inspect used pizza boxes prior to throwing them into my recycling and make a call. if they are not that bad, i put them outside face up to get rained on an cleaned. usually, that takes care of the problem, as far as i can tell.
but regarding the cost of recycling, i have been under the presumption, based on various studies in the past, that most recycling doesn’t work very well anyway. from what i understand, ONLY aluminum is worth recycling via the current process and most all other forms (glass, paper, plastic) operate in the negative cost, and the processes used are actually bad for the environment (sort of like “green cars” having expensive batteries which need to be replaced every few years and are bad for the environment). ALSO, that much of the recycled material actually just winds up in the land fills.
i’ve just been going along with it for years living in a house with 9 people, but feeling like i’m not really helping in doing so, and merely just “following the law”. is this still true, or is there some new and improved recycling method that actually works well? i would not be surprised in the least, for nearly everything the government becomes involved in doesn’t work! 8-)
B Raymond
posted on September 4th, 2009 at 5:57 am
In our part of Washington State, our yard waste collection company–Waste Management, Inc.–happily accepts food waste in with the yard waste. All of that is taken (a short distance) to a private composting facility. This includes soiled pizza boxes and and food soiled paper.
Pam K.
posted on November 11th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
A SMALL amount of grease or cooked food residue shouldn’t be a problem if you are making your own compost (assuming there is enough “clean” compost to mix with). Extrapolating on the garden path idea–another use for the “dirty” part of the pizza box (or other cardboard) is as a weed barrier when creating raised beds or underneath decorative mulch. It will decompose eventually and add to the soil. If at the bottom of a raised bed it will discourage weed seeds from sprouting but allow roots from plantings to penetrate to the soil below.
By the way–I love the idea of reuseing “gently used” pizza boxes for those who eat takeout pizza regularly–not the solution for everyone but still….cool!
Gabe
posted on November 16th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I am actually quite upset. I’m glad that I finally learned this, as I can’t count the number of times that I’ve recycled greased pizza boxes. I think instead of calling it “irresponsible recycling” perhaps it should be “not raising awareness.” I’m astounded that I haven’t learned this before, and I think it’s because of poor education on the matter, which should be corrected. If it really wastes $700 million per year, I think the best remedy to the problem is actually let the public know, not sit back and eat the deficits.
Becky
posted on November 19th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Great post!! I always tell my roommates we can recycle pizza boxes and used napkins, whoops!