Carton recycling in Nigeria: what happens to your old boxes

From your shop to the paper mill

It starts with collection. Someone has to gather cartons from thousands of shops, weigh them and pay for them. That is the job Reearnify does in Ibadan.

The cartons are then pressed into bales and sold on to paper mills. At the mill, they are soaked in water and broken down into pulp, cleaned, and pressed into new sheets of board. Those sheets become new cartons, and the cycle starts again.

Why dry, clean carton matters

Wet carton rots and grows mould. Oily or food-stained carton spoils the pulp. That is why buyers, including us, cannot take carton that has been rained on or used to hold food. Keep your boxes flat, dry and off the ground and they will always be accepted.

Why it is worth doing

Recycled carton means fewer trees cut down, less smoke from burning, and fewer blocked gutters in the rainy season. And for the trader, it turns something you would throw away into money.