Arkansas recycling facilities are preparing for a projected 10% increase in packaging material over last year’s online holiday shopping. “The forecast for this holiday season includes increases in online shopping and shipping,” said Craig Douglass, executive director of the Regional Recycling District in Pulaski County. “That means more cardboard boxes will be showing up on the doorsteps of area residences. It also means an increased opportunity to recycle cardboard.”
December has long been a predictably busy time for online retailers and customer service, but the covid-19 pandemic has increased demand further. “Each person generates 36 more pounds of waste in December than in other month of the year. That’s the equivalent of throwing away 58 teddy bears,” Plastic Free Little Rock posted last month from the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity.
With even more cardboard boxes being shipped to area residences than ever before, Adobe Analytics, an online retail research company, predicted the significant bump in online shopping this year. Regional Recycling will conduct a cardboard recycling education program from Dec. 1-26 to help address how to dispose of the extra materials predicted to arrive on the doorsteps of Arkansans. The program will use television, radio, print and social media to connect with consumers.