All paperboard. No plastic. Curbside recyclable.
Rigid plastic ring carriers linger in landfills and rarely make it through curbside recycling. Proper Pack is a paperboard alternative — built to be genuinely recyclable where paperboard is accepted, printed and die-cut in the USA, with zero plastic rings.
Why the industry is moving on from plastic rings
The convenience of rigid plastic carriers comes with a cost that shows up on the shelf, in the bin, and increasingly in state law.
Plastic rings don't break down
Rigid plastic and ring carriers persist in the environment for a very long time, and a meaningful share slips out of the recycling stream entirely.
Most can't go curbside
Rigid plastic multipack carriers are frequently not accepted in standard curbside programs, so well-meaning customers end up sending them to landfill.
Regulation is tightening
A growing number of states are restricting single-use plastic packaging — putting pressure on brands to move away from plastic ring carriers.
One material, made to be recycled
Every Proper Pack carrier is built entirely of paperboard. Many "paper" carriers on the market are paperboard laminated with a plastic layer, which keeps them out of the paper stream — ours has no laminate, so the whole carrier goes in the same bin as the rest of your customer's paper recycling.
- 100% paperboard constructionNo plastic film, no plastic laminate, no rings — nothing to separate before it's recycled.
- Curbside recyclable where acceptedDrops into standard curbside paper recycling wherever paperboard recycling is accepted — no special program required.
What actually happens when it's recycled
Recyclability only counts if it works in the real world. Here's the honest path a Proper Pack carrier takes — where paperboard recycling is accepted.
Into the paper bin
Your customer drops the empty carrier into standard curbside paper recycling — no disassembly needed.
Sorted with paper
Because it's a single paperboard material, it moves through the paper stream cleanly instead of contaminating other loads.
Repulped
At the mill the fibers are broken back down into pulp, the same way cardboard and paperboard are recovered.
New paper products
Recovered fiber becomes new paper and paperboard — keeping material in use instead of in a landfill.
A straightforward comparison
Plastic ring carriers
The status quo- Rigid plastic / ring material
- Often rejected by curbside programs
- Persists in the environment
- Undermines a recyclable brand story
- Increasingly restricted by state law
Proper Pack paperboard
The alternative- 100% paperboard, single material
- Curbside recyclable where accepted
- Made from renewable fiber
- Reinforces your sustainability claims
- Ahead of tightening regulation
The rules are moving toward paper
You don't have to wait for a mandate to get ahead of it. Switching now protects your shelf presence as the landscape shifts.
Single-use plastic bans
More states each year are limiting single-use plastics — and multipack ring carriers keep landing on the list.
Extended producer responsibility
EPR laws are shifting the cost and accountability for packaging waste onto the brands that create it.
Retailer sustainability targets
National and regional retailers are setting packaging goals that favor recyclable, plastic-free formats.