Non-recyclable packaging materials should be banned.

[MineralMan]

We've been in our current digs for almost a year now. We've stopped buying new stuff for our new place. That is a good thing, but the shelves in the garage were stuffed with leftover boxes and packaging from those new goods. This morning, I started breaking it all down to make some room and rid the garage of clutter. In doing so, I realized, once again, that there is too much packaging that cannot be recycled.

That's a shame. The back half of one of our compact SUV's is now full of broken down cardboard boxes. Tomorrow, I'll take that over to the recycling center. Sadly, though, our garbage can is also full. I broke up all of the styrofoam molded box inner inserts into small chunks and into the wheelie bin they went. Off to the landfill. Not good. There is too much of it. On the other hand, a few boxes had inserts molded of heavy duty papier-mâché. I'm sure they're just as protective, but I could put those into the wheelie bin for recyclables.

And plastic. Plastic air-filled pillows everywhere. I slice through them with the same knife I used to open boxes. But, they have to go in the garbage, since they cannot be recycled. A few of the packages used kraft paper dunnage, though. That can be recycled. It's a better choice. One box had some interesting molded papier-mâché interlocking noodly things to fill voids. Those, too can be recycled.

Yes, a lot of this stuff was ordered online and shipped to me. But, had I bought the same stuff at the local brick and mortar, they would have been the ones to dispose of the shipping boxes and packaging materials. Same thing, different people.

We need to do better with packaging and shipping materials. It all should be recyclable. All of it. There shouldn't be anything that goes to the landfill any more. We could do that. We should do that.

[Diamond_Dog]

1. I agree

And I’m surprised the number of restaurants that still give you your takeout in styrofoam containers.

[MineralMan]

2. Yes. Some restaurants have switched, though, to

paper-based containers. I like those better. Of course take-out Chinese always comes in those paper boxes.

[nitpicker]

4. It depends on the restaurant

My favorite Chinese restaurant is still using styrofoam clamshells.

Until they get banned a couple of years from now.

[nitpicker]

3. Unless you have some people to send presents too

Then one can recycle the boxes, popcorn,etc.

[MineralMan]

6. Yah, but there are just too many to re-use.

After our move, though, I put all of our moving boxes on Facebook Marketplace. Someone came and picked them all up within an hour, including three of those huge wardrobe boxes. Moving boxes are expensive. If I remember correctly, we paid about $300 for them when preparing to pack up for our move. They're a desirable freebie. You can use random shipping boxes to move, but they aren't uniform in size like standard moving boxes. You can also put styrofoam peanuts on Marketplace, Craigslist, or other freecycle websites for free. If you have a few big bags of them, some eBay seller will run right over and pick them up. They're expensive when new, as well.

This time, though, I was dealing with a bunch of nonstandard shipping boxes, product boxes, etc. Not attractive to people.

[maxsolomon]

5. I'm lucky to live where recycling options are better. Not perfect, but better.

The city will pick up styrofoam for free if you request it online. You set it out separately on collection day.

Most groceries are now accepting plastic bags in bins next to the door. I puncture the air pillows and put them in my bags of bags - it's all the same plastic.

[brewens]

7. I had a styrofoam peanut mishap once. An animal got into the garbage where a bunch were and they

ended up everywhere. I was finding them for years.

[3catwoman3]

8. The size of boxes can be ridiculous.

My husband builds static display model airplanes, and often orders small bottles of paint from various suppliers. The bottles are about the size of a bottle of over-the-counter eyedrops. They arrive in boxes big enough to hold a pair of men's athletic shoes.

[TwilightZone]

9. Some inflatable "pillows" are recyclable in some areas.

It'll usually note on them whether or not they're recyclable, then it's a matter of finding somewhere that will take them.

Target stores here (central TX) accept them along with plastic shopping bags.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. A Heads Up

Very thin plastics, especially those requiring little tensile strength or elasticity for the application, probably already have a substantial% of recycle.
The inherent problem in recycling plastics is that the crosslink sites are consumed. So, hot melt addition of recycle is just mixing plastic, not building new polymeric bonds.
Because of that, very little of plastic that is separated as recycle, is actually reused. It's just piling up.
IIRC, under 12% of plastic is actually reused.
Plastic like those used for packing pillows are not valuable as recycle, except maybe as packing pillows. If they're not punctured, of course. Being recycled just as plastic is a lost cause.
There is some novel chemistry being pursued to more effectively use recycle. I've been told this could get true recycle as high as 70%. But, it's a long way to industrial scale.