Christmas Creates ‘Tsunami’ of Cardboard Waste

Mountains of empty boxes are piled high at recycling centers across the country, due to the ever-growing appetite for online shopping. Cyber Monday smashed records as retailers reported $9.2 billion in sales. Kreigh Hampel is the coordinator at a recycling facility in Burbank, California, where more workers are being brought in to separate heaps of cardboard from other trash. He says there is a “cardboard tsunami“ in California and part of the problem is due to the way packages are shipped.