Containerboard Market Outlook:
Containerboard Market size was valued at USD 123.83 Billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 156.97 Billion by 2035, registering around 2.4% CAGR during the forecast period i.e., between 2026-2035. In the year 2026, the industry size of containerboard is evaluated at USD 126.5 Billion.
The current sustainability measures in the packaging industry have led to a rise in paper recycling and pulp-based cardboard production. The future quantity and prices of waste resources and byproducts are anticipated to be influenced by population growth, resource competition amongst industries, supporting government regulations (e.g. zero-waste initiatives, organic waste ban), and technology development. Waste generation resources are somewhat fixed and often do not respond to shifts in demand for the material or market price. For a conventional commodity market, if the market spikes, supply is likely to swell in response.
As waste resources directly correlate with animal and human populations, their supply is unaffected in response to drivers such as containerboard market demand. While supply dynamics for waste resources are complex, alteration in the utilization of capacity affects their prices. Overall supply and prices of paper and cardboard waste resources in a mature-market scenario are presented in the following table.
Annual Paper and Cardboard Waste Resources in Near-Term and Mature-Market Scenarios in 2022
|
Waste Resources and Byproducts |
Near-Term Total Annual Average Resources |
Near-Term Available Annual Average Resources |
Mature-Market Low/Medium/High Total Annual Average Resources |
2022 Average Price in $/Wet Ton |
2022 Average Price in $/MMBtu |
|||||||
|
|
Million Wet Tons/yr (Million Dry Tons/yr) |
Energy Content (TBtu) |
Million Wet Tons/yr (Million Dry Tons/yr) |
Energy Content (TBtu) |
Million Wet Tons/yr (Million Dry Tons/yr) |
Energy Content (TBtu) |
Near Term |
Mature-Market Low/Medium |
Mature-Market High |
Near Term |
Mature-Market Low/Medium |
Mature-Market High |
|
Paper and cardboard |
121 (114) |
1,624 |
68 (64) |
910 |
142 (134) 1 |
1,903 |
$93 |
$93 |
$110 |
$7 |
$7 |
$8 |
Source: U.S. DOE
Paper and cardboard recycling rate have showcased a steep rise in the last few years. According to the American Forest & Paper Association, the U.S. paper recycling rate surpassed 65-69%, an equivalent of 46 million tons of paper (126,000 tons/day) and the cardboard recycling rate was estimated between 71-76%, which is roughly 33 million tons (90,000 tons/day) in 2023. It is noteworthy that 79% of U.S. citizens are part of community residential-curbside upcycle programs to manufacture containerboards. The AFPA mentioned that 50% of the overall recycled paper was used for containerboards, 15% went into making boxboards, 10% for tissues, 6% in miscellaneous products, and roughly 30% for global exports.
