Salvageable with effort.
- Label residue. Almost always fixable with a putty knife and a heat gun. Our grade B allows minor residue.
- Sharpie and ink stamps. Doesn’t affect structure. Fine for grade B or C.
- Tape marks and adhesive. Gets covered by new tape on re-tape. Not a problem.
- Dust and general warehouse grime. Air blower and a broom at Zone B. Not a problem.
- Light grain or bulk food residue (dry).Vacuumed out and surfaces wiped down. Fine for non-food reuse.
Bale, don’t reuse.
- Oil and grease stains. Structurally ruins the fiber bond. Gets baled and sold as low-grade OCC.
- Wax coatings. Old produce boxes often have wax impregnation. Cannot be re-pulped or reused for any other application. These go to a specialty recycler.
- Water damage. Wet corrugated delaminates and loses structural integrity. Gets baled while still damp.
- Heavy printing ink. Not a salvage issue but makes the box ugly for grade A/B resale. Often gets baled.
- Mold. Almost never reusable. Baled immediately and stored separately until outbound pickup.
Do not touch — call somebody else.
- Hazmat placards and residues. We turn these trucks around. Hazmat requires a licensed disposal chain.
- Biological waste. Same. We’re not a biohazard disposal company.
- Heavy metal contamination. Goes to specialty hazardous handlers.
- Anything that came from a lab. Even if it looks fine. We don’t risk it.
What to do with a questionable load.
When you’re not sure if a batch is salvageable, send us photos and a quick description through the form at the top of this page. We’ll tell you which of the four categories above it falls into and quote accordingly — pickup fee for bale-only loads, pickup credit for reusable loads, or “please call a hazmat specialist” for the rare third option.