Every distribution center produces the same three things at the back door: flattened cardboard, stretch film pulled off inbound pallets, and the pallets themselves. Most buildings have one company hauling the cardboard, a second one taking the film when it gets around to it, a third buying or dumping the pallets, and a waste hauler charging for whatever ends up in the compactor. The questions operations managers ask us most often are simple ones: can one company take all of it, what happens when peak season hits, and how do we prove where it went? Here are the straight answers.
Yes, One Company Can Handle Cardboard and Plastic Film
Cardboard and stretch film are different commodities that go to different end markets, and that is the reason facilities assume they need two vendors. They do not. The two materials are baled separately on the same baler, staged side by side at the same dock, and loaded onto the same trailer. At the plant they are weighed and graded separately, so your cardboard rebate and your film rebate each show up as their own line. What you avoid is the second pickup window, the second invoice, and the second phone call when something goes wrong. CRI runs cardboard recycling and plastic film recycling as one program because that is how the material actually arrives at your dock: together.
What a Scheduled Pickup Looks Like at a High-Volume Building
The word scheduled matters more than the word pickup. A distribution center cannot have bales stacking up in a lane because a truck did not show. The reliable setup for a high-volume site is a spotted trailer: a trailer parked at a dedicated dock door that your crew loads as bales come off the baler. When it fills, it is swapped for an empty on a set day, or on a call if you fill faster. Buildings with lighter volume use a compactor or an enclosed container on a fixed rotation instead. Which one fits depends on your throughput, and we cover the decision in our guide to spotted trailers versus compactors. Either way, the cadence is written down, the trailer or container is placed by CRI through our equipment placement program, and the swap happens on the day it is supposed to.
Covering Peak Season Without a Pile at the Dock
Peak season is where single-vendor programs earn their keep. In the weeks when inbound volume doubles, so does the cardboard and the film, and a program sized for an average week falls behind fast. Three things keep the dock clear:
- A second trailer staged early: an extra spotted trailer placed before the surge, not after the first one is already full.
- A temporary step-up in cadence: swaps move from weekly to twice weekly or more for the peak window, then step back down.
- Help inside the building: for the largest sites, CRI places a sorter or baler operator on your floor for the peak weeks so your own people stay on picking and shipping. That is our on-site labor service, and it is scoped by the week.
None of this requires a new contract. It is the same program flexing with your volume, which is only possible when one company owns the whole thing.
Proving Where the Cardboard and Film Went
Sustainability leads and corporate procurement increasingly ask the same question: after the trailer leaves, where does the material go, and can we show it? The honest answer from a real recycler has paperwork behind it. Every load that leaves your dock is weighed on an Illinois state-certified scale and the ticket is tied to your account. Cardboard bales ship to paper mills and film bales ship to plastics reprocessors, and CRI reports tonnage by material each month so your team can calculate and defend a diversion rate. If you need help building that number, see our walkthrough on how to calculate your waste diversion rate. For material that must be destroyed rather than resold, such as returned product or branded packaging, a certificate of destruction documents it load by load.
The Third Stream: Pallets
Pallets are the part of the program most buildings leave on the table. Inbound freight arrives on pallets your facility does not need, and they are either stacked outside until someone hauls them, or thrown in the dumpster at a disposal rate. A pallet in reusable condition is a product with a buyer, and a broken one still has repair or scrap value. CRI buys used pallets on the same pickup that takes your cardboard and film, and can deliver recycled or new pallets on the return trip if your outbound side needs them. That turns the pallet pile from a disposal line into a rebate line and frees the yard space.
What One Program Changes for Operations
Consolidating three or four vendors into one is not just a purchasing convenience. It changes how the dock runs. One company owns the schedule, so there is one calendar to manage. One company owns the escalation, so a missed swap is one call, not a round of finger-pointing between haulers. One company owns the reporting, so the rebate statement, the scale tickets, and the diversion numbers all tie to the same loads. CRI is privately owned and has run programs this way since 1986, with our own fleet across the north central Midwest and one point of contact for facilities in 45 states. The full picture of how that works is on our single-vendor recycling page, and the vertical specifics are on our warehousing and distribution page.
Find Out What Your Building Produces and What It Is Worth
The fastest way to see whether a single program fits your distribution center is to have someone count what actually leaves the dock in a week. CRI will walk the building, estimate the cardboard, film, and pallet volume, recommend the trailer or compactor setup, and show you what the material would earn versus what you pay to dispose of it today. Request a free assessment and we will build the program around your volume, your dock, and your peak season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one recycling company handle both cardboard and plastic film from a distribution center?
Yes, and it is the normal way to run a distribution center program. Cardboard and stretch film are baled separately on the same baler, staged at the same dock, and picked up on the same schedule by the same company. The two bale types ride together on a spotted trailer and are weighed and paid separately. One pickup, one invoice, one rebate statement showing both streams.
How do we handle the extra cardboard and stretch wrap during peak season?
Plan the surge before it arrives. A second spotted trailer staged at the dock, a temporary step-up in pickup frequency, and if the volume justifies it, a sorter from CRI working inside your building during the peak weeks. The program flexes up for the season and back down afterward without a contract change.
How can we document where our cardboard and plastic go after pickup?
Every load that leaves your dock is weighed on an Illinois state-certified scale and the ticket is tied to your account. Bales ship to paper mills and plastics reprocessors, and CRI reports the tonnage by material each month so your sustainability and procurement teams can show a diversion number they can defend. Where a load must be destroyed rather than resold, a certificate of destruction documents it.
What is a distribution center's recyclable material actually worth?
Clean, baled cardboard and stretch film are traded commodities and are paid for by the ton. Pallets in reusable condition are bought by the unit. What your building earns depends on the volume, how clean the bales are, and the market that month. A free assessment from CRI counts and grades what your facility produces and shows you the number.