Tree to Box: The Billion Dollar Cardboard Business 

0:00 The World Runs on Cardboard 1:36 The Science Behind the Material 3:40 How Cardboard is Engineered 5:07 Forests as Natural Resources 6:29 Supply Chain of Raw Materials to Finished Goods 8:05 How Cardboard is Sold 9:28 Tree to Box Vertical Integration 11:50 The Slow King 14:32 The Secrets of Recycling 15:50 Shaping Brazil & Russia 18:02 The Nimble Heir 20:02 Supply Chain & Product Differentiation

This channel is arguably one of the most valuable gems on YT.

40 years in this industry and this video was spot on! Great job!

I found this to be fascinating. I'm a truck driver, and back when I was "over the road", I frequently delivered to International Paper, WestRock, Kimberly-Clark, Georgia-Pacific, etc. I have opinions on the various companies based on their efficiency of shipping/receiving, but it's cool to learn more about the inner workings of the companies.

I work at Pratt Industries in Northwest Indiana by Chicago and this video was constructed PERFECTLY. From how a corrugated sheet is made into all the background nuances like sales and accounting and down to the recycling process was amazing to say the least 10/10.

Don’t forget the tapes and adhesives used to close the boxes! You hardly notice them, but the science behind their formulation and application is fascinating.

large warehouses, stores and packaging converters may be able to sell their used cardboard back to the recyclers as it is just that valuable. B2B paper tends to be cleaner and therefore slightly more valuable than post consumer paper. I work in this industry and I have to say this was really well done. I will be passing this along

It always blows me away at the amount of research that must have went into this. Interesting topic too

I always click instantly when you post - your insights and the amount of value that I get from these videos... I can't believe this is even free!!

Please create a series of business empires hidden in plain sight

I worked 14 years as an electrician/mechanic in a corrugated box plant, and let me tell you, I haven't a single regret about being retired today

the fact that this guy can make a youtube video about cardboard boxes interesting is ASTONISHING.

Wow I feel like Martin and Principal Skinner at The Box Factory. Excellent content and presentation as always

Best business analysis on youtube by a long mile!! Well documented, presented and entertaining

Dunder Mifflin is also one of the paper industry giants. and their Scranton branch is exceptionally well managed under one Mr. Michael Scott.

Man this has convinced me that when in the Simpsons Bart’s class goes to the box factory it was actually a really cool field trip that the kids didn’t appreciate.

"In spite of the antiquated rail network of the US..." I believe it's generally agreed that the US has the best rail network in the world for industrial purposes. Where the US is seen as lacking is its passenger rail network, which would not be relevant here.

Man these videos are so freaking good. I wouldn’t mind if you went into even a little more depth. If you felt like you were trimming some aspects, you could go longer/deeper. The only other thing I would ask for is more content if possible, without losing quality! Great stuff!

My dad worked for Westrock for pretty much his whole life, we knew it as Westvaco for years before the merger with RockTenn. The mill in our city has made the air and water around us toxic but if it didn't provide so many jobs, our small mountain community would literally be a ghost town.

I was in Corrugated for 4 years as a Packaging Graphic Designer in print quality control. I worked closely with the Structural Designer of various boxes we made. I’d like to push back on the source of strength of the box being “triangular.” As I understand it the strength of the box comes from the flutes, or ARCH-like shape that is formed by heating up the paper and running it through Combining rolls. The associate images when learning the process were colonnades or examples of Roman aqueducts. Not all walls of the box are made equally as flutes run in one direction. The walls that have vertical running flutes are the strongest load bearing sides.

Never thought going to the cardboard factory might be interesting. Something the Simpsons got wrong.

I LOVE CARDBOARD!!!! A GREAT MATERIAL FOR ANYTHING!!!! CHEAP, STRONG AND EASY TO GET!!!! ALSO GREAT FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS.

I keep all my cardboard and use it to mulch my garden or keep it flat and plant raised beds on it. If I knew how to do biz I’d start Fake Timothy’s Cardboard Mulch Biz. In my experience it’s been a very effective weed and grass suppressant. I’m sure people would buy it.

Who would’ve thought I’d be watching a video on the economics of cardboard at 1 AM on a work day

do you have a team of people is is it just one person? because the quality is amazing

I haven’t thrown a box away in years 🤣 i stash up every single one for my eBay store and I’ve noticed a lot of differences in boxes over the years lol

Haven't watched this yet but looking forward to it. I remember hearing when I was a kid that one if US largest exports was the paper used to make the cardboard boxes that products they import can go into lol

The companies that make the kraft paper (Fiber board) are numerous. The largest here in Florida is Container Corp. which owns huge swaths of land in Florida & Georgia to grow the Southern Pine trees used for paper. The other companies include Rayoneer, Jefferson Smurfitt, Seminole Kraft (Formerly St. Regis) and Hercules. These are just the ones I know of. Jacksonville used to be known for "The stink" from the raw paper plants located here: St. Regis, Alton Box, Container Corp. and the Union Camp turpentine (Made from the pine tree bark) plant which was once used for sewage treatment. The smell was from the caustics (Alkaline bases) used to break down the wood chips into wood fiber pulp. St. Regis (Now Seminole Kraft) switched to recycling and still operates today. The turpentine plant is still operation but seems to have made changes to reduce the smell.

this is my new favorite channel, so much quality info for free, its insane!

I've never seen a more thrilling documentary about companies that produce... cardboard,

This is a fantastic channel. I watched a couple videos so far. They are packed with good solid facts & figures, and provide great insights to subjects I wouldn’t have been able to learn independently so easily. The videos are really well made in length, well edited and the narration is very nice. The producer keeps things very interesting. Great job.

Thanks for the great video. Westrock has 9B in debt (market cap is 11B) and issued a ton of shares in 2016. That's how they're able to grow so quickly

in 1995 my two Vancouver, BC roommates were young bucks on the way up in the pulp mill world. The three mills ALL went zero pollution in BC ; Fletcher--Challenge NZ, Mac. Bloedel Canada, and Crown-Zellerbach USA. And the priced of Number 78's (liquor box size for apts) went from 78. per 100 to 325. per 100. Consumer picks up the bill All the @off market mills in Canada closed (Dryden, Fort Frances, Thunder Bay( where all my country cousins worked (just in time to retire) and THAT work went...........to China.

given how invested everyone is in sourcing virgin wood pulp, how possible is disruption by replacing it with a cheaper or faster-growing source of virgin fiber? (grasses, bamboo, etc)

Always a treat watching your videos. Very succinct and without much fluff, while being extremely informative with a delivery tone and speed that is just right. Hope to see more of your videos.

how does this video only have 65 comments the quality you put out is amazing. keep up the amazing videos bro

I am a fan of recycling cardboard as a construction material. It really is far more sturdy than most people think. Not only is it great for general crafts, it makes great lightweight shelves, drawers, end tables, and even other furniture. As someone who has arthritic and elderly family members, having lightweight items around the house makes it easier for them to move them around if they need. Cardboard with a greater percentage of recycled pulp tends to have a grayer color, and is a bit weaker, but nothing a few coats of PVA glue and layers of Kraft paper or paperboard can't fix! The real jackpot is when I find a nice bit of honeycomb cardboard from a TV box, that stuff is so strong. Ikea even uses a form of it in some of their cheaper desks.

Recent mba grad and your videos are more informative and entertaining than any class I took. Keep it up!

Mainly a reminder of how proud I am of the US protecting our forests so vigorously. Also big thank you to cardboard companies for helping in the fight against microplastics. I have a feeling some plastics will come out soon as the next led paint, asbestos, ect.

I’m getting a degree in marketing/business right now and this video was very insightful! It was cool to see the step by step processes and how they work. Thank you for the great content!

Great job sir. There are currently more trees in the United States than there were in 1900. The old growth forests and hard woods which take hundreds of years to grow are not used in paper production. The fibers are shorter - the quick growing trees have longer fibers - but they should be using hemp, it takes less energy to process, has long fibers, and most often does not require any brightening (Peroxide Bleaching currently used for wood pulp) Westrock - Westvaco & RockTenn - both very old companies which were themselves combinations of other companies, the last 40 years of the paper industry have seen a HUGE consolidation from many private family owned companies to publically held massive companies. Gulf States was acquired from the founding family by Rock Tenn, which was then acquired by Westvaco. Mead Containerboard was acquired by Westvaco a decade prior. Gilman Paper was sold by the family , Federal Paperboard was sold to International Paper by the founding family. Union Camp & James River Corp became part of Georgia Pacific which was taken private by the Koch's. Champion Pulp and Paper was sold to management and they divested part of the operations. I missed more than I mentioned... My grandfather designed built and then acquired mills for Caraustar Industries, his first job was rebuilding the boilers for the only mill in the late 1940's. they owned Star Paper Tubes and Paragon Plastics and were acquired by Grief Brothers Box in the past 15 years. My father and I converted warehoused processed bleached paperboard seconds /joblots for 25 years, (been retired near 15 years) we bought sold machinery and paper to India, Phillipines, China, Korea, Vietnam, Estonia, South Africa, Central and South America, Canada and the entire United States mainland. I sold a few hundred tons a week to China. 600 tons a month of gypsum wallboard facing into Russia through Estonia.

I love that this is objective and information-first but there's an optimism in how this is presented, showing a mature but still evolving industry that balances economic strategy with sustainability in a reasonable way. I didn't know so many people were as ready as I am to stop with the single-use plastic, although there will be at least a few industries where that probably won't happen, as plastic has some unique applications. Great video!

In Australia, Visy is one of the major players in the cardboard box industry. In 2007, it was fined $40million AUD for plotting to start a cardboard cartel with its competitors. Who would have thought this could happen to something as mundane as cardboard!

That was a great summary and analysis of a usually overlooked industry.

Such an underrated channel. Loving the content!

Your videos are so good I just spent 23 mins watching a video about cardboard boxes

Dam this guy will be the next big RU-vidr with the quality he’s shipping too us ! Q:Can you do a video on Costco as I was always curious how they are surviving with Amazon and Walmart.

Great video!! It seems like it‘s still very much unknown that not all cardboard can be recycled after use. Cardboard that got in touch with food and oils actually harm the recycling machines and therefore belong into the general waste, which means it‘ll be burned or put on landfill. So it‘s really not as sustainable as one might think. I‘ve especially focused on this issue with pizza boxes and have therefore created a reusable option (PIZZycle). It‘s actually much more sustainable, even though its made from plastic!!! Food for thought :)

This channel is fantastic. Such well organized, insightful information about important topics. Well done.

This channel is incredibly well done.

Working on my MBA right now and am stoked to have found your channel.

Your videos are always so interesting and introduces me to the business side of a lot of things I never really thought about. Keep up the good work!

This is such a dope video! Never thought about this field til now

You always make great videos!

"Instead of going to the box factory, we're going to the...box factory!" - Principal Skinner

been loving your channel mate

Great video, as always! Thank you!

You are awesome and your choice of topics are awesome keep it up 👍

Amazing content all around!

This is awesome, a refreshing content on RU-vid

lol i google about pizza box printing and next day this is on my algorithm. gotta love it

Surprisingly interesting. and well presented

Truly empires hidden in plain sight: comparable in revenues all the US professional sports leagues combined, yet never given a second thought by the typical consumer.

Extremely well done.

GREAT VIDEO AND EDUCATION. THANKS FOR SHARING!!! I LEARNED SO MUCH!!!!

Trees??! Wow , I’d never have guessed that where it came from, I always thought it was dried out octopus brain

Love this channel :)

huh never knew about international paper, and I didn't know westrock was so big. The only place i've seen the westrock logos was at my old job since they supplied the boxes we used to pack our merchandise.

You are awesome, very intricate analysis much appreciated

Great video, I learned something this morning

Wow this video show up after i analyze some logistic companies to buy their stock later, great video

i love these videos so much

I just started working at WestRock 2 weeks ago. Great place so far!

Logger here and card board is great. We are doing a lot of thinning units and a lot of the little trees that cause over crowding and massive forest fires. Can’t make Boards out of these trees so the little trees and dead trees are turned into chips which then get turned into cardboard. Great for our forest. If there isn’t any market for these trees then you can’t cut these over crowded forest that cause massive fires.

A MUST WATCH!!!!

Your videos are exceptional, Thank you so much! Would you be willing to do a video on the phone industry ? Mainly comparing the two big players Apple and Samsung and their respective strategies, etc?

Awesome video. Great information and education throughout.

Such an insightful video!

never knew its this big, i thought the product manufacturers create the cardboard box themselves

SUCH A INFORMATIVE VIDEO LOVE THIS

Toilet paper and paper towels are forms of “tissue” paper; corrugated cardboard, and single layer box material are laminated from container board and liner board, which is derived from layering “craft paper”

I had a cousin who worked at Crown Zellerbach in Tampa for over 30 yes, he was in charge of making the glue to manufacture boxes I wa able to go to the plant several times over the years, very noisy, but cool to see how boxes are manufactured.

I live in a little hamlet that transforms virgin trees into lumber & container board (at one time it produced the most lumber for housing in the world!). The latter puts out an unbelievably awful smell (that fortunately doesn't go over my house very often, but still enough that I have to tape my windows to keep out the smell), but I put up with it because the housing prices are super rock-bottom.

Hi, this video is very insightful. Thank you. All the best.

You see, Bart Simpson's field trip to the box factory could have been interesting after all...

Very well done and solid video. Thank you for taking time to do this the right way.

I had this idea, I was wondering if you introduce a weave of cotton strings into the 2nd recycle with about 2" spacing between the weave. Does this strengthen the recycling box?

Why does he say America has an antiquated rail network? It is by far the most efficient freight rail network in the entire world.

I love your videos ❤

I don't understand how you do research this good, and is able to make it publicly available to people out RU-vid This is professional report level of work. How do you do it!? Curious how the "political connections" part makes it into these businesses operations. Are they in the form of leadership and the access they get, or something else?

Great Videos, really good

Thank you for this video

6:06 antiquated rail? The US has the best freight rail in the world

well this is funny. i am watching the Bart gets famous Simpson's episode atm lol. I'm sure Bart would find this video interesting and now i know the box factory manager is way richer than Krusty 🤣

I Love your videos

Great Content !

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Truly a fascinating video on what seems rather dry/boring at a surface level

very informative.

Exelente pieza informativa.