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In 1884, Swedish chemist Carl F. Dahl developed a process
for pulping wood chips into a strong paper that resists
tearing, splitting, and bursting, and he named it the Kraft
process. This was what is now commonly known as
cardboard.
Cardboard is a stiff, strong, and lightweight paper
packaging material. It is extremely versatile in its uses, and
almost all items in the market are delivered and displayed
in cardboard boxes. Millions of tonnes of cardboard are
used each year for packaging. For instance, more than 25
million tonnes of corrugated cardboard were produced in
the United States during 1992.
Cardboard is divided into two broad types –
corrugated and un-corrugated. The former one is made of
a wavy “corrugated” or fluted strip sandwiched between
two strips of flat cardboard. It is commonly used for
packaging and shipping items. The un-corrugated
material is called paperboard. It does not have flutes, is of
a lower quality paper, and is often coated. For example,
the flat, pressed paper used in toothpaste packs is
paperboard.
Cardboard (especially corrugated) is an excellent
source of fibre for recycling. The compressed and baled
cardboard boxes are put in a hydropulper – a large vat of
warm water. Extraneous materials like strings, films, and
tapes are removed, and the contaminants are filtered out.
The pulp slurry is then used to make new paper and fiber
products. And recycling cardboard uses 25 per cent less
energy than making new ones. This saves a lot of energy,
money, and space in landfills.
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