Frozen-food boxes and other poly-coated paperboard products, however, should never be composted due to the plastic they contain. One distinct difference is that wax-coated cardboard may be compostable, though only if the material’s coating is made of a compostable wax such as soybean or bees wax - not paraffin wax.
Similar to poly-coated paperboard, wax-coated cardboard it is rarely recyclable. You can differentiate the two materials by scratching the coating if the coating is gouged or comes away easily, it is coated in a wax, not plastic. Wax-coated cardboard is another mixed-material packaging product that is similar to, and often confused with, poly-coated paperboard. They use a process called hydro-pulping to separate the polyethylene from the paper fibers and then recycle the materials separately. Waste Management is one recycler that accepts poly-coated paperboard for recycling. As is generally the case with mixed-materials packaging, both materials used to make frozen-food boxes are recyclable, but they are layered in such a way that it becomes difficult to separate them during the recycling process. Poly-coated paperboard is an example of mixed-materials packaging, a product that contains a combination of different materials. Before you put ice-pop and frozen-pizza boxes in with your other paper recyclables, call your local hauler to find out if they will accept them, because many haulers do not.
While paperboard is regularly recycled worldwide, the thin layer of plastic used in frozen-food packaging prevents those packages from being regularly recycled. Dear Recyclebank: Can You Recycle Frozen Food Boxes? – Melissa H.ĭear Melissa: Frozen-food boxes are made of poly-coated paperboard (sometimes called “plastic-coated” paperboard): A product made of paperboard, coated in a thin layer of plastic to prevent freezer burn, moisture leakage, and product degradation during use.