About the Paper Recycling Coalition

Our Mission

The impressive economic and environmental benefits of paper recycling are directly tied to the availability of a clean and stable supply of recovered fiber. The PRC’s mission is to protect this fiber – which is our raw material – by promoting recycling education and preventing market-distorting government subsidies from diverting mill quality recycled fiber from the supply chain. Diverting this feedstock from the circular economy to landfills or waste-to-energy facilities eliminates opportunities to recycle these materials and turn them into valuable new essential products, such as paper and packaging.

Our Process & Products

We make our pulp by mixing paper with water. Like an extremely large blender, rotating fins in the pulper reduce the paper to individual fibers, producing a paper ‘slurry’. The pulp is then washed and refined. At this stage, contaminants, like small pieces of glass, staples, plastic, and any other non-fiber materials that were mixed in with paper, are removed.

The clean paper slurry is then moved through the paper machine on a series of screens. As the pulp goes through the process, water is drained away from the slurry. The remaining paper fibers are pressed with rollers and dried to form large sheets of paper. Because our products are used by some of the most demanding companies in the world, every effort is made to assure the highest quality. Computerized sensors and state-of-the-art control equipment monitor each stage of the process to ensure that the paper meets or exceeds all standards, including the thickness and smoothness requirements of the consumer.

The 100% recycled paperboard or containerboard is then sent to a printing plant or a converting facility where it is transformed into a box, core or tube, fiber can, folding carton, overnight envelope, or other consumer or industrial products.

100% Recycled Paperboard

Recycled paperboard is a high-quality product used in packaging and other consumer and industrial products that have been made from recyclable paper collected for recycling. These include cake mix boxes, beer and beverage carriers, game boards, gift boxes and cereal cartons.

100% Recycled Containerboard

Recycled containerboard is a term used to describe a form of paperboard that is specially manufactured to produce corrugated fiberboard. The term encompasses linerboard, chipboard, and corrugated medium. Containerboard products include pizza boxes, Amazon boxes, retail shipping containers, and retail displays and are used in numerous industries from automotive to beauty. Containerboard production is the most prevalent among all paper types globally, with more than 100 million tons produced per year. It is produced in specialized machines.

Our Members

Members of our coalition are leaders in recycling from across the industry. From family businesses over a century old to some of the largest corporations in the world, our members work together to protect the recovered fiber supply. Through paper collection programs, paper mills, and manufacturing facilities throughout the United States, coalition members sustainably manufacture 100% recycled paper that is turned into a wide array of packaging products.