You’ve used up all your bandages caring for your family’s cuts and scrapes and made the brilliant, earth-friendly choice to recycle your bandage carton. But now what? Read on to discover how that original carton gets recycled into something new, rather than adding to landfill waste. From Recycling Center to Paper Mill

Once the recycling container outside of your house gets picked up, it’s taken to a recycling center to be sorted according to the various product types – metals, plastics, and papers.

After the paper products have been pulled out, they’re transported to a mill where they’re mixed with other paper goods and water. This mixture is called “pulp.” The pulp is transferred to an enormous blender that transforms it into a “paper slurry.” At this point, that original carton looks nothing like its old self and instead looks something like a smoothie.

The paper slurry is then washed and refined, helping to decontaminate the mixture by removing dirt and non-paper products. The cleaned slurry is then pushed through multiple giant screens that are specially designed to drain the water away, leaving only the paper fibers behind.

These paper fibers are then pressed and dried in large sheets of “brand new” paper. This paper is left stacked or rolled as it awaits its next life as a newly product or package – one that may even wind up right back in your house. Typically, the transformation into a new product occurs at a separate location though, such as a converting facility or a printing plant.

While this process may seem complex, it’s an important part of protecting our planet and reducing our landfills. So don’t forget to recycle your BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages carton or any of the other recyclable bathroom products you may have.

Each and every item recycled makes a difference for us and for future generations!