Ironically, An Old Town Paper Mill Is Asking For More Cardboard

Generally, isn't this supposed to work the other way around?

You'd think that would be the case: Paper mill makes paper and cardboard, customer needs something, paper mills sells box. Boom. Basic economics, right? You'd think so. But in these times we've been living in, there never really seems to be a simple and short answer to anything anymore.

Such is the case in Old Town at the N.D. Paper Mill. According to WABI, they're in a position that they're actually asking people to drop off their used-up cardboard at their mill. They want your old cereal boxes, pizza boxes, whatever... And they're going to take that and turn it into new forms of cardboard packaging.

Why the big need for people's cardboard right now?

Like everyone in the manufacturing sector, trying to source and secure raw materials is getting harder and more expensive. So if they can cut out the middle man a bit and get all of the locals used up cardboard, it will save them all sorts of time and money. Will it be enough to meet all of their demands? Probably not.

But hey, in the world of big business, any money they don't spend, is more money in their pockets. Once your materials are dropped off, it's processed into a pulp that they turn around and use to make all sorts of other things. It seems very chicken vs. the egg in a lot of ways, hahaha.

I understand at the end of the day, this is just basic recycling that cuts out the middle man, but it still makes me chuckle that a paper mill wants my old cardboard, to turn around and indirectly sell it back to me. But, such is the circle of life. Especially in business. You gotta do, what you gotta do.