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Products made with 100 percent recycled paperboard packaging took home the rigid box best-in-show award and won 16 excellence awards and eight gold awards in the National Paperbox Association’s (NPA) 55th Annual Packaging Competition, which was held in January and announced this spring.

The "Louis Vuitton Inclusive" box, best-in-show winner in the rigid box category, was produced by the Taylor Box Co., Warren, R.I., using 100 percent recycled paperboard, printed litho and a leather strap. The box was designed to hold promotional postcards and a booklet for the upscale designer and retailer Louis Vuitton.

"The use of 100 percent recycled paperboard in a high-end piece such as the Louis Vuitton Inclusive box showcases the board’s performance and graphic appeal," says Paul Schutes, executive director of the 100 Percent Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA-100 Percent). "One hundred percent recycled paperboard continues to expand in popularity as packagers recognize its many strengths and value proposition."

Packages made with 100 percent recycled paperboard also earned a number of gold and excellence awards. Winning packages made of 100 percent recycled paperboard included club store packaging, retail store jewelry and gift boxes, toy and entertainment packaging and household goods.

The 100 percent recycled paperboard winning entries were produced by manufacturers such as Columbus Paperbox, Imperial Packaging Corp., Paul T. Freund Corp., Michigan City Paper Co., Taylor Box Co., Utah Paper Box Co. and Atlanta Packaging Specialties Inc.

Describing itself as the "premier" competition in the rigid box and folding carton industries, NPA’s annual packaging competition provides the paperboard packaging industry with the opportunity to showcase its most innovative, creative and distinctive designs produced during the past year. Entries came from the United States, Canada and Europe.

Staples Inc., Framingham, Mass., and its retail superstore subsidiary have launched a toner cartridge recycling competition in cooperationg with Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin.

In Staples’ $25,000 Cartridge Chase, students collect empty ink and toner cartridges through March 1, 2006. Teams receive $3 per cartridge collected, with the winning team collecting $25,000 on Earth Day 2006.

Teachers can register their teams at www.staplesrecyclefored.com. Staples will send each team a welcome kit that includes flyers announcing the competition, prepaid postage for shipping the cartridges and an account number so the teams can monitor their progress.

Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin, host of Animal Planet’s "Corwin’s Quest" and author of Living on the Edge helped to launch the Staples $25,000 Cartridge Chase.

"I applaud Staples for offering an easy way to help the environment and our schools through its Recycle for Education program," Corwin says.

More information on the Staples $25,000 Cartridge Chase can be found at www.staplesrecyclefored.com.

REDUCE, REUSE, REPACKAGE

Recycling Today readers who are planning a move in the near future may want to keep www.UsedCardboardBoxes.com in mind. The company picks up used boxes from homes and businesses and sells them to home movers for about half the price of a new box.

UsedCardboardBoxes.com says it helps companies like Guess Jeans, Coldwell Banker and Borders Books save money on recycling expenses, while helping home movers cut their costs almost in half and saving hundreds of acres of trees per year. The company also donates a portion of its profits to the L.A.-based environmentalist group www.TreePeople.org.

Marty Metro, founder and president of UsedCardboard
Boxes.com, says, "Most cardboard boxes can be used at least two to three times before they are recycled. Why not sell them again?"

UsedCardboardBoxes.com has operations in four southern California cities and plans to expand to Dallas, Seattle and Philadelphia this year. For those areas the company is unable to service presently, it offers the Boomerang Box Exchange, which links box buyers and sellers outside of the company’s service area.

The company also rents Rubbermaid bins and U-Haul trucks and trailers to DYI movers.