Paper Shredders for Corrugated Cardboard

A paper shredder is meant for shredding ‘paper’ documents. But you are looking for a way to use a paper shredder to shred cardboard waste so you can reuse the shredded corrugated cardboard for composting in your garden. Or you want to reduce the volume of cardboard boxes before you recycle them. What paper shredder is the best option for you?

Use a cardboard shredder for shredding cardboard waste

The cardboard shredder shown below is the HSM ProfiPack C400. This machine perforates cardboard boxes into flexible netting that you can use as eco-friendly and free packaging material.

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But you are here because you would like to shred pieces of cardboard with a typical paper shredder. Therefore we did some research to find out which shredders can shred some cardboard. So your pet doesn’t have to do the shredding anymore.

Can you put cardboard in a paper shredder?

No, a standard household paper shredder is not meant for shredding cardboard. Hence, we don’t recommend shredding cardboard with a regular paper shredder. You might damage the shredder, so please shred cardboard at your own risk.

Also, a paper shredder has a relatively narrow feed opening, which is only meant for A4 documents and not for cardboard boxes. This also indicates that a paper shredder isn’t really meant for shredding thick and large pieces of cardboard.

That is why we recommended a cardboard shredder for shredding (corrugated) cardboard, one of these machines can be seen below. A cardboard shredder is mostly used for creating eco-friendly packaging. But a cardboard shredder could also be used for composting or even animal bedding.

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Recommended cardboard perforator

HSM ProfiPack C400

To conclude, we recommend a cardboard perforator to shred cardboard into eco-friendly and sustainable packaging material for your shipments. The HSM ProfiPack C400 is an affordable and compact solution to convert cardboard boxes into packaging material for the shipping area in your office. This machine can handle single layers of cardboard. It is a high-quality, German-engineered cardboard converter with steel housing.

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Strip-cut or cross-cut?

When you want to buy a paper shredder for shredding cardboard, you have the option to purchase a strip-cut or cross-cut (or even micro-cut) shredding device. But what is the difference?

A strip-cut shredder turns paper and cardboard into long and thin strips. So this is not like confetti, but more like spaghetti. When you want tiny cardboard shreddings, then we recommend going for a cross-cut shredder.

For the smallest shreds, you should look into micro-cut paper shredders. The only downside of a micro-cut shredder is that shredding takes up more time and the maximum sheet capacity is generally lower.

Dedicated shredder for cardboard

When you want a shredder built for shredding cardboard, we recommend you visit our page about cardboard shredders here. Most of these cardboard shredding machines get used by companies that want to repurpose their cardboard waste as eco-friendly packaging or void-fill material.

A regular paper shredder isn’t capable of shredding cardboard regularly. The cutting blades get optimized for shredding paper sheets rather than cardboard boxes. When shredding cardboard (accidentally), we suggest lubrication of your shredder and let it cool down before using it again.

Shred cardboard for compost

• How to Shred Cardboard for Compost
• Composting Cardboard: Information On Types Of Cardboard To Compost Safely

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