The production of corrugated boxes begins with trees harvested from managed forests and fiber recovered from recycling centers being made into paper at a paper mill. The paper mill produces two types of brown paper called liner and medium. These papers are fed into a corrugator which presses flutes into the medium and adheres the liner to create corrugated board. The board is dried, trimmed, slit, scored, and cut into sheets which are then printed, converted into boxes, bundled, and delivered to customers. Any trimmings or scrap from the process are recycled back into the production system.

1. Trees
1
Recovered Fiber from
Recycling Center
2
Paper Mill
3
Kraft Paper
Rolls
4
Corrugator
5
Dryers
6
Slitting/
Scoring
7
Cut Sheets
8
Flexo Folder/Gluer
(includes Direct Printing)
9
(OR)
Rotary
Die Cutter
10
Bundled &
Palletized
11
Corrugator DetailRecycling Center
Liner
Combined Board
Medium
Liner
Flutes
The production of corrugated boxes begins much like
any other paper product. Wood (1) from trees harvested
from responsibly managed forests and fiber (2) recovered
from paper recycling centers are processed into pulp
and made into paper at a paper mill (3). In this process,
two different types of brown paper (kraft) are produced:
liner and medium. (4) These two special papers are
fed into a corrugator (5) which presses flutes into the
medium and adheres liner to either one or both sides of
that medium with starch-based glue adhesive, producing
combined board or corrugate. Additional sets of fluted
medium and liner can be added to create a double wall
or triple wall product. The corrugated board is then
fed through a dryer (6) to remove moisture and set the
adhesive. The dry corrugated board can then be trimmed,
slit, scored (7) and cut into sheets (8) for printing and
converting (9-10). Often the corrugated sheets are
printed to label, brand or promote the products that
will be in the finished box. After converting, trimmings
and scrap are recovered and sent to the recycling center
for processing. In the final step the converted products
are bundled (11) and delivered to the customer.
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