Waxed and wet boxes: what to do with them

Waxed board

RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts says waxed cardboard is not a waste ban material. That is different from saying it can go in the recycling: it means the disposal ban does not cover it. Waxed board is also not something we reuse; a wax-coated box is built for a specific wet job, and the coating changes how it handles.

Wet board

Cardboard contaminated with food or liquid should not be recycled, according to the same source. A box that sat wet also loses strength: corrugated can lose roughly half its compression strength as humidity climbs from 50 to 90 percent. A wet gaylord is neither a reuse candidate nor a clean OCC load.

For produce and seafood docks

• Keep wet or waxed boxes in a separate pile from dry ones
• Dry gaylords from the same dock are ordinary: sell them
• For the rest, ask your hauler how they handle it; we do not take it
• Describe the pile in your request so the reply can say what we can and cannot do

See produce wholesale and seafood processing for the docks where this comes up most.

What to write in the request

If the stack includes waxed or wet boxes, say how many, what they carried and how long they have been standing. A box that carried produce in a wax-coated liner is a different problem from a box that was rained on and dried. Say whether the board is soft, moldy, stained or merely discolored. Whatever the reply recommends, the first step is for the dock to know exactly what it has.

Keeping the streams apart

Even where waxed and wet board has to go a different way, the rest of the stack does not. Keep the waxed and wet boxes in their own pile, away from the dry ones, so one wet box does not turn a clean stack into a questionable one. It is a small habit that keeps the reuse and OCC streams intact.

How to tell which you have

Waxed board has a slick, slightly translucent surface and sheds a drop of water. Wet-damaged board is dull, soft or warped, sometimes stained or moldy. A box can be both: a waxed produce carton that sat in the rain. If you cannot tell, press a corner and scratch the surface with a fingernail. Wax flakes or smears; wet damage crumbles. Report what you find, and report it honestly.

A caution about hauler loads

A load that contains wet or waxed boxes may be rejected at a mill. Keep those boxes out of the OCC pile so that the rest is not lost.

Do not guess; a short note on what the box carried is the quickest way to settle the stream it belongs to.

A note from your hauler about what they accept is worth keeping nearby.