Considering getting a Cardboard Shredder for your business? Here are ten of the most beneficial reasons to get one!

A Cardboard Shredder is a recycling machine that lets you transform your used cardboard into cushioning packaging material for void fill or product protection. The main advantage is that you can easily make your own packaging from old cardboard boxes, which is free and sustainable - meaning your business also saves on waste disposal and packaging costs!

Cardboard Shredders can be used by a wide variety of industries ... from online ecommerce stores to sales warehouses to companies that regularly ship parcels to customers or clients. But why do YOU need one for your business? Below are a few reasons that you may or may not have thought of ...

 

1: Reduce costs on Packaging and Waste Disposal

One of the biggest advantages of using a Cardboard Shredder is that the machine is profitable for your company. The investment literally pays for itself relatively quickly.

Depending on whether you require matting or strips, a Cardboard Shredder starts around €2,600 for an entry-level model. A larger free-standing model costs around €5,000. Box Depot also offers leasing options that could be as little as €22 per week.

The purchase of a Cardboard Shredder could be quite an investment for your company. But this investment pays for itself.

The time it takes to recover your investment depends on a number of factors:

• The amount of packages sent out each week
• The amount of cardboard waste that would normally be disposed of
• The amount of packaging voidfill that would normally be purchased but can now be fully replaced by shredded cardboard

A Cardboard Shredder is a cost-effective machine with a fast ROI. It will reduce the costs of waste collection and buying new packaging materials. The more often you use your shredder, the faster the investment will pay off!

 

2: Free & Sustainable Packaging Material

Do you ship parcels? Do you regularly have old or used cardboard material? Then a cardboard shredder is indispensable for your company.

With this machine, you'll give your cardboard waste a second life as an environmentally friendly packaging material. And this material is completely free and therefore much cheaper than new packaging material.

Because you're using waste cardboard (that you'd normally have to pay for to be disposed of!) this packaging or void-fill material is completely free and therefore much cheaper than new packaging material. Also because cardboard is a natural product, it is also 100% environmentally friendly.

 

3: Reduce your Cardboard Waste

Cardboard waste takes up valuable floor space. Especially when you have a lot of old cardboard boxes lying around in your premises. By processing the cardboard directly with a Cardboard Shredder, it can be immediately reused as packaging material by your shipping department.

By reusing cardboard, it is also not necessary to keep a large waste container or bin for cardboard on your site. One of our customers who purchased a Cardboard Shredder from us, was amazed to realise his waste charges had reduced by 70% in a matter of weeks!

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4: Reduce Your Damaged-Delivery Rate

One of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of business is dealing with deliveries that you have sent out ... but are damaged in transit, which you have to replace. There are a number of studies into this irritating part of business, but on average, it takes somewhere between 5-8 additional sales to recoup the costs of just ONE damaged delivery that you have to replace. Dealing with these damages, irate customers and free replacements takes considerable time (not to mention affecting your profits!)

The cushioning properties of cardboard (whether used as strips or as matting) reduces damaged deliveries considerably. As an example, Box Depot gave a Cardboard Shredder to a customer to try out (if you're tempted but not 100% sure, we are more than happy for you to "have a go" with a demo model first!) This customer (who sells liquids in glass bottles) came back to us after only 3 days to tell us their damaged-delivery rate had reduced by 90%!

 

5: Reduce C02 Emissions

It is a simple equation - Less cardboard waste that has to be disposed of means less CO2 emissions.

It is not necessary for a waste collection company to transport the cardboard waste from your premises. Which means less transportation by the recycling truck - which results in less CO2 emissions.

The percentage that you can reuse as packaging material depends on the quality of your cardboard waste. A Cardboard Shredder could theoretically eliminate your entire cardboard waste stream within your company.

 

6: Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Bubble Wrap & Plastic Voidfill

A lot of packaging and void fill are made of plastic, for example, bubble wrap and packaging peanuts. Plastic does has an advantage in that it is a light and strong material, but the considerable downside is that plastic is difficult to recycle. A lot of unsorted plastics end up on landfills or are incinerated to extract their energy value.

Cardboard is a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging. The shredded cardboard strips or perforated cardboard matting is a perfect material to protect products during shipping. Cardboard has similar features to plastic voidfill packaging material. It is protective, cushioning, and flexible.

 

7: Single-Material Packaging

Using multiple types of packaging materials makes recycling more difficult. A cardboard box with plastic peanuts and bubble wrap doesn’t really increase the chance of optimal recycling rates. And your customer won't thank you for the added work of having to separate the cardboard and plastic before disposing of it! It is more efficient to choose one type of material to protect and ship your products in.

In most cases, a product is shipped inside a corrugated cardboard box. It therefore makes sense to also use cardboard as a filling or voidfill material. The most sustainable is of course to use shredded cardboard from your waste flows as filling material.

 

8: Cheaper Alternative to a Cardboard Baler

Cardboard is a bulky and voluminous material, which can take up quite a lot of valuable warehouse space. Companies with a lot of cardboard waste often wonder what to do with it. The (old-fashioned!) traditional way to decrease the volume of cardboard was by compacting the cardboard with a cardboard baler.

The benefit of a baler is that the volume of the cardboard is reduced by compressing it into compact cardboard bales. And this, obviously, saves floor space in comparison to fully formed cardboard boxes. In addition, the material can easily be transported by a recycling/waste company.

The disadvantage of a baling machine is that the investment is relatively high. The initial average investment in a cardboard baler is anywhere between €5,000 – €20, 000. And don't forget that you still have to find space to store the baled cardboard!

A much better alternative is a Cardboard Shredder. The purchase cost of a cardboard shredder is many times lower than a baling press. And a Cardboard Shredder is an investment that almost always pays for itself in a matter of months. It is ultimately profitable because you reuse your cardboard waste as filling material, and you reduce waste transportation costs.

 

9: A Compact Packaging Solution

A Cardboard Shredder is a fairly compact machine. It measures approximately 700mm x 480mm x 970mm (l*w*h). This means that these machines are relatively compact and take up little space in your company. Especially compared to a much bulkier cardboard baling machine. And whether you choose to shred or mat your cardboard, the resulting packaging takes up a LOT less space than your stacked or baled cardboard and your bales of bubble wrap.

 

10: Demonstrate how Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Your Business Is

Three years ago the world landed on it's head ... and online shopping became not only 100% acceptable but the norm. Consumers began to notice (maybe because they were stuck in Covid Lockdown and had nothing else to do!) that businesses they ordered from were sending out their products in plastic non-recyclable packaging. Some businesses started engaging in the dubious practice of "Green-Washing" to try to win customers over. So there were (and to some extent, still is!) spurious claims of "We'll plant a tree to offset our Carbon Footprint" [but small print says 1 tree per year] or "We use xyz plastic packaging that has added xyz chemicals so that it is compostable" [HINT: Adding chemicals to something made of chemicals makes it more ... chemically and definitely less compostable!]

Instead, why not visibly demonstrate, in a tangible hold-it-in-your-hand way, how committed your business is to being eco-friendly and sustainable?

You can easily do this by getting rid of your bubble wrap or packing peanuts, and packing your products instead with the cardboard voidfill from a Cardboard Shredder! One of our customers chose the option to trial a Cardboard Shredder for a week before deciding whether to buy one ... they contacted us 4 days after installation to say that they had received feedback from their customers who were thrilled they were using a recyclable and eco-friendly packaging voidfill!

 

Box Depot has a wide range of Cardboard Shredders available for any business. Contact us now for free advice and pricing on the best Shredders suitable for your business requirements.

Tags

cardboard shredder eco friendly eco-friendly packaging ecommerce sustainable packaging

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