There’s one confusion you might’ve faced when cleaning after a party. What to do about the pizza box? If you look at them, they are just cardboard boxes.
So why are people so confused about whether they should recycle them? Can you recycle a pizza box?
The simple answer is yes. Yes, you can recycle a pizza box. People are confused about recycling pizza boxes because of the grease and cheese stuck to them.
It was believed that grease and cheese might degrade the quality of the recycled material. This is not the case based on the study. To be safe, you remove the part with cheese and grease, and the boxes will be safe to recycle.
Now that we have the simple answer let’s see a bit of explanation for the same. Keep reading!
Is It Safe To Recycle Pizza Boxes?
Many people are skeptical about recycling pizza boxes, but why so? The pizza boxes are nothing but rectangular-shaped corrugated (cardboard) boxes.
But still, 73% of the community throughout the United States are not sure whether they should recycle the pizza box or not.
This is because it was believed that the grease and cheese stuck to the pizza box could cause food contamination when recycled. So, many municipalities agreed that pizza boxes belonged to the trash.
The grease and other food substances are believed to degrade the inter-fiber bonding of the overall paper when recycled. Thus, grease-stuck pizza boxes were not welcome.
But now, in many cities, like New York, it is encouraged to recycle pizza boxes. This is because when a study was conducted, it concluded the cheese stuck to the pizza boxes actually doesn’t cause damage to the recycled paper.
It can only cause damage if the grease is about 20% of the cardboard box, which is rarely the case. Still, municipalities like Alabama and Huntsville tell the citizens to throw the pizza boxes in the trash.
To be on the safe side, you can simply scratch or cut out the parts with cheese, grease, or any kind of food substance stuck to it.
This is far better than keeping the box on top of the recycling bin because you don’t know where it belongs.
In conclusion, unless your pizza box is dripping with grease and covered with a lot of cheese, you can recycle it.
Ways To Reuse Your Pizza Boxes?
If you don’t want a perfectly good cardboard pizza box, there are other ways to make it helpful. Here are some ways to get crafty and creative and reuse your pizza boxes.
You can also make better use if it is a customized pizza box, and you can use it for whatever crafty thing you want.
1. Cat Bed
If you are a cat parent, you’ll know that cats love to ditch their luxury beds and get comfortable in boxes of all shapes and kinds.
So why not meet your cat in the middle and transform the cardboard box into a cat bed? All you need to do is cut the box’s top cover and lay your cat’s favorite blanket on the bottom half.
Watch your cat become a bread loaf as it snuggles in the new DIY cat bed. Also, make sure you make the bed according to your cat’s size. Small box for a kitten, a large box for your fully grown cat.
2. A Small Art Easel
This is, again, a simple yet nice one. Got a little one that’s an aspiring artist? Well, make them a homemade art easel using your pizza box.
Just fold a quarter of the lid and paste cardboard to the lid and the flat surface of the pizza box. There you have it, your very own art easel.
3. A Laptop Stand
Yes, you can make a simple laptop stand using a pizza box. Flatten the box out completely. Then, fold it back together in a way that it forms a slope.
At the bottom of the slope, fold an edge up a little. This will prevent the laptop from sliding off. If you fold it correctly, there should be a hole at the back that you can easily pass a charger cable through.
4. Wall Art
Well, you can get creative here. Just close and seal the pizza box with some tape. Then, you can cover it with wallpaper, textured paper, or even a poster.
You can cut and paste different wallpaper to give it an abstract look. You can do it with many pizza boxes of different sizes and wallpapers. So when you hang them, they all look beautiful and vibrant.
5. Box Canvas
This is similar to wall art, but you can use it differently. Close and seal the box completely. If the box is white, you can start painting over it.
If not, just cover it with a white drawing sheet, and you’ll have a box canvas. Let the kids draw their masterpieces.
6. Game Boards
Pizza boxes can also make great DIY game boards. You can make soccer boards, Tic-Tac-Toe boards, and a giant battleship game.
You can also cut it out to make a giant clock that you can use to teach your kids how to see the time.
Final Words
Now you know that you easily recycle and reuse your pizza boxes. It’s crucial to understand the importance of recycling. Reusing is also a great way to reduce waste.
Did you find this article helpful? Tell me in the comments. I’ll see you another time. Until then, happy reading!
