As the world’s largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer, Hobby Lobby’s recycling efforts are helping protect the environment.

Hobby Lobby works to shrink their environmental footprint by reducing waste, recycling cardboard and incorporating reusable boxes and bins. Each year, through the company’s efforts, more than 16 thousand tons of cardboard is kept out of landfills. The recycling efforts provide revenue to help offset costs and allow expansion of the program.

Industrial baling machines in all warehouses and retail locations compact and bundle cardboard for shipping to recycling facilities. Specially designed boxes are used to distribute merchandise to stores and returned to the warehouses for reuse.

Recycling cardboard makes sense for the environment and business. The demand for cardboard packaging has made it the single largest waste product (by weight) with more than 24 million tons of cardboard discarded each year. The U.S. paper industry relies on fiber from cardboard, newspapers and catalogs for more than half of their supply need. Recycling cardboard requires 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard and reduces the use of tree pulp.

Protecting the environment and being good stewards of resources is essential to doing business responsibly. Because of that, the recycling initiative will continue to grow and be a priority for Hobby Lobby.