What we hold — and what we refuse to imply we hold.
This industry is full of logos used loosely. Here is our list, with the exact wording of each claim, and a plain statement of the three things we are often assumed to have and do not.
Request documentation
Letters of guarantee, chain-of-custody paperwork and audit summaries are available on request.
Straight to the grading floor at 9869 Meeks Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63132.
Or email sales@reboxesmarket.com. We have no phone line — dimensions and counts survive much better in writing.
Not sure of the size?
Fold a box in the browser, read off the cube and pallet fit, and send the spec straight through.
Six things we can put in writing.
SFI Certified Sourcing
Chain-of-custody documentation for the virgin-content board we do buy, covering responsible fibre sourcing.
FSC Recycled claim support
We maintain the documentation chain needed for customers making FSC Recycled claims on converted product.
ISO 14001-aligned EMS
Our environmental management system follows ISO 14001 structure. Independently audited; we do not claim full certification.
Mill grade #11 / #12 OCC
Baled output consistently meets ISRI specification for #11 and #12 OCC, with moisture and contamination logged per bale.
FDA-compliant liner sourcing
Food-contact liners sourced with supplier letters of guarantee, passed through to customers on request.
EPA WasteWise reporting format
Diversion statements issued in a format compatible with EPA WasteWise and GRI 306 reporting.
Three things we are regularly assumed to have.
Being explicit here saves everyone a procurement cycle.
Full ISO 14001 certification
Our environmental management system follows the ISO 14001 structure and is independently audited against it, but we are not certified. We will send the audit summary; we will not let a logo imply otherwise.
Food-contact certification for used board
No used corrugated container is suitable for direct food contact, and no certificate would change that. We supply FDA-compliant liners with supplier letters of guarantee, and the liner — not the box — carries the claim.
Carbon-neutral or net-zero status
We are neither, and we do not buy offsets to claim we are. We reduce emissions by keeping containers in service and filling trailers properly, and we report what is left.
Fourteen references worth knowing by number.
Specifying packaging gets much easier once you can name the standard rather than describe the requirement. These are the ones that come up in our quotes and our customers' RFPs.
| Reference | Title | Why it matters here |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM D642 | Compressive resistance of shipping containers | The test behind box compression figures |
| ASTM D4727 | Corrugated and solid fibreboard sheet stock | Material specification for board itself |
| ASTM D5639 | Selecting corrugated box dimensions | How to specify L × W × H correctly |
| TAPPI T 811 | Edge crush test of corrugated board | The ECT number on a Box Maker's Certificate |
| TAPPI T 810 | Bursting strength of corrugated board | The Mullen number |
| TAPPI T 412 | Moisture in paper and paperboard | How moisture content is measured and deducted |
| ISTA 3A / 6 | Packaged-product performance testing | Transit simulation for parcel and distribution |
| ISO 12048 | Compression and stacking tests | International equivalent of ASTM D642 |
| FEFCO / ESBO code | International fibreboard case code | The four-digit style codes we quote against |
| ISPM 15 | Wood packaging phytosanitary measures | Why corrugated avoids an export compliance burden |
| ISRI Scrap Specifications | Recovered paper grade definitions | The #11 and #12 OCC specs we bale to |
| GRI 306 | Waste disclosure standard | The format our diversion statements fit |
| EPA WasteWise | Voluntary waste reduction reporting | Compatible reporting format on request |
| FDA 21 CFR 176 | Indirect food additives: paper and paperboard | Why used board cannot be direct food contact |
Every number we multiply by, in one table.
Take these, argue with them, substitute your own. Two have changed because a customer arrived with better data, which is the entire point of publishing them.
| Factor | Value we use | Range in literature | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin corrugated, cradle-to-gate | 1.30 kg CO₂e / kg | 1.1 – 1.6 | Mid estimate; includes inbound freight |
| Recycled-content corrugated | 0.85 kg CO₂e / kg | 0.6 – 1.1 | Varies hugely with mill energy mix |
| Reuse cycle (collect, grade, repair, issue) | 0.215 kg CO₂e / kg | 0.17 – 0.25 | Our own measurement, trailer-allocated |
| Repair-and-reuse cycle | 0.275 kg CO₂e / kg | 0.22 – 0.33 | Adds bench labour and repair board |
| Conversion to honeycomb or dunnage | 0.49 kg CO₂e / kg | 0.4 – 0.6 | Destroys the container, keeps the sheet |
| Recycling to new board | 0.76 kg CO₂e / kg | 0.6 – 0.95 | Consumes one of the fibre's five to seven lives |
| Triple-wall gaylord board weight | 18.5 lb | 17 – 20 | 48 × 40 × 36, no lid |
| Median trips per gaylord | 9 | 4 – 14 observed | Marked-container study, n = 4,200 |
| Trailer packing efficiency | 72% | 65 – 80 | Knocked down and banded |
| Landfill density, loose OCC | 80 lb / yd³ | 50 – 110 | Used for volume-avoided figures |
We deliberately exclude end-of-life recycling credit, carbon stored in the fibre and avoided landfill methane. All three would improve our figures and all three are contested.
What a bale is worth, and why.
Old Corrugated Containers is a traded commodity with published indices and a long history of violent swings. If you sell baled OCC without watching it, you are guessing.
| Grade | Specification | Moisture | Premium | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISRI #11 — OCC | Sorted, baled corrugated. Up to 5% prohibitives, 5% other paper. | ≤ 12% | Baseline | Domestic containerboard mills |
| ISRI #12 — Double-sorted OCC | Double-sorted, ≤1% prohibitives. New corrugated cuttings excluded. | ≤ 10% | +15 – 30% | Mills running recycled liner |
| ISRI #13 — New corrugated cuttings | Unused box plant trim, no print or wax. | ≤ 10% | +40 – 60% | High-grade liner mills |
| Mixed paper | Unsorted paper grades including corrugated. | ≤ 12% | −40 – 70% | Varies; occasionally a disposal cost |
| Wet or contaminated | Outside specification on moisture or prohibitives. | > 15% | Rejected or deducted | Nobody |
Eight claims, and how strong each one actually is.
Two of these we make and document. One we refuse to make. One we consider close to meaningless.
| Claim | Evidence needed | Strength | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recycled content, post-consumer | Mill certificate of analysis | Strong | Percentage varies by mill and by run |
| FSC Recycled | Chain-of-custody certificate | Strong | Requires certified converters at every step |
| SFI Certified Sourcing | Chain-of-custody documentation | Strong | Covers sourcing practice, not recycled content |
| Recyclable | Material composition | Moderate | Depends on local infrastructure; wax and laminate break it |
| Repulpable | Supplier test data | Moderate | Verify with your actual recycler, not the datasheet |
| Reusable | Trips-per-container data | Strong if measured | Meaningless without a trip count behind it |
| Carbon neutral | Offset purchase | Weak | We do not make this claim and are sceptical of those who do |
| 100% diversion | Usually none | Very weak | Ask what they do with wax-coated produce board |
Where packaging shows up in your inventory.
Almost all of it is Scope 3, which is both the hardest category to influence and the one where reuse makes the largest single difference.
| Scope | Definition | Your packaging | Where we affect it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Direct emissions from sources you own or control | Your own forklifts and trucks moving packaging | Our nine trailers and yard equipment |
| Scope 2 | Indirect emissions from purchased energy | Electricity for balers, compactors, lighting | Our press, baler and grading floor lighting |
| Scope 3, cat. 1 | Purchased goods and services | The embodied carbon of every box you buy | Where reuse makes the largest difference to you |
| Scope 3, cat. 4 | Upstream transportation | Freight bringing packaging to you | Reduced by knocked-down cube and reverse loads |
| Scope 3, cat. 5 | Waste generated in operations | What your dock sends to landfill or recycling | Our diversion statements report directly into this |
| Scope 3, cat. 12 | End-of-life of sold products | Where your packaging ends up after the customer | Reuse postpones this entirely |
Every field on a diversion statement.
Formatted so your team can lift it straight into GRI 306 or EPA WasteWise without re-cutting the numbers, and with the coefficients attached so an auditor can check them.
| Field | Unit | Frequency | Maps to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnage reused | short tons | Monthly | GRI 306-4 (diverted) | Reported separately from recycling, always |
| Tonnage recycled | short tons | Monthly | GRI 306-4 | Split by mill grade |
| Tonnage residual | short tons | Monthly | GRI 306-5 (directed to disposal) | With composition by material |
| Landfill avoided | tons and yd³ | Monthly | EPA WasteWise | 80 lb/yd³ for loose OCC |
| CO₂e avoided | kg | Monthly | Scope 3 cat. 1 and 5 | Coefficients attached every time |
| Contamination rate | % | Monthly | Internal quality | Published whether or not it flatters us |
| Trips per container | count | Quarterly | Circularity indicator | Pooled accounts only |
| Population and attrition | count and % | Quarterly | Asset reporting | With a coded reason for attrition |
| Cost per trip | currency | Quarterly | Commercial | The number that proves the programme works |