Recycle Right

SWACO Encourages Residents to Recycle their Pizza Boxes this Super Bowl Sunday and Beyond

Feb 03, 2025

SWACO has partnered with more than 25 local pizza restaurants to educate and encourage residents to recycle their empty pizza boxes, with the campaign kicking off this Sunday, as pizza restaurants prepare for an influx of orders for the Super Bowl.

Greasy pizza boxes are now recyclable if they are free of pizza and the liner has been removed. With new technology, grease no longer hinders the final quality of the recycled paper product. Franklin County residents can put their pizza boxes in their home’s curbside recycling cart, or bring them to a SWACO drop-off recycling location, including the Recycling Convenience Center.

While widely accepted for recycling, corrugated cardboard makes up more than 10% of what arrives at the Franklin County landfill, owned by SWACO, every year, second only to food waste.

“The amount of cardboard thrown away in central Ohio every year would fill enough trucks to line them up from here to Cleveland,” said Joe Lombardi, SWACO’s Executive Director. “Now having the ability to recycle even greasy pizza boxes is an exciting step forward for families and individuals who want to reduce waste and recycle right. And to have so many local pizza restaurants join our efforts on one of the biggest pizza eating weekends of the year is certainly a win for everyone!”

SWACO has purchased 30,000 stickers which will be placed on carryout pizza boxes and contain information on how to recycle the boxes. The stickers also include a QR code leading to additional information about how to recycle right in Franklin County.

“Nationwide, about 12 and-a-half million pizzas are ordered or purchased on Super Bowl Sunday,” said Eric Kohl, Regional Manager of Dewey’s Pizza.  “Our locations here in Central Ohio are preparing to make upwards of 1,000 pizzas that day, and every single box of ours will don SWACO’s sticker.  I’m happy to encourage our customers to do their part in our community’s waste reduction efforts.”

To learn more about recycling pizza boxes or find a free SWACO cardboard drop off site near you, visit RecycleRight.org.  A list of participating pizzerias is below.

 

Participating Pizzerias:

  • Dewey’s Pizza Three locations around central Ohio
  • Fibonacci’s Pizza Two locations around central Ohio
  • Panzera’s 1354 Grandview Ave., Columbus
  • GoreMade Pizza 936 N. 4th St., Columbus
  • Black Dog Pizzeria 5923 Karric Square Dr., Dublin
  • Ronetti’s Pizza 23 S. Main St., London
  • Carlucci’s Pizzeria 8757 Smokey Row Rd., Powell
  • MediterraneYUM Food Truck 160 W. Woodruff Ave., Columbus
  • Marketplace on Neil 1578 Neil Ave., Columbus
  • Traditions at Morrill 1900 Cannon Dr., Columbus
  • Curl Patio Pizza 80 W. Woodruff Ave., Columbus
  • Woody’s Tavern 1739 N. High St., Columbus
  • Pizza Nerds 1376 Cherry Bottom Rd., Gahanna
  • Flyers Pizza Ten locations around central Ohio

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