Reworking your waste stream > Managing your waste stream > Recycling in Lincoln > Corrugated cardboard disposal ban
Corrugated cardboard once made up almost 1/10th of the waste disposed at the Bluff Roads Landfill in Lancaster County
“Amazon Box” by stockcatalog is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Origin of the ban
In 2018, Lincoln and Lancaster County conducted a waste characterization study at the Bluff Roads Landfill; that study found that up to 9.5% of waste going into the landfill was made up of corrugated cardboard. The ban was implemented to require residents and businesses to recycle their clean and dry corrugated cardboard – this not only is better for the environment, but also extends the lifetime of the landfill by greatly decreasing the volume of waste it brings in.
Enforcement of the ban
Individuals and businesses will not be ticketed by the City for putting clean and dry corrugated cardboard in their trash can – however, trash hauling companies must remove any recyclable cardboard prior to dumping at the landfill. In turn, some trash companies charge fees to their subscribers for including clean and dry corrugated cardboard in their trash.
Benefits of the ban
Though the ban has clear environmental benefits, there are also economic benefits: prior to the ban, corrugated cardboard made up about 9.5% of the waste in the Bluff Roads Landfill (according to a waste management study). Implementing the ban was effective at reducing the amount of corrugated cardboard in the landfill, which is greatly extending the life of the landfill.
Image courtesy Bluff Road LCS Executive Summary, available below
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