List where cardboard will come from
Ask vendors about shipping cartons, product cases, display pieces, and food-service packaging before the event. Clean corrugated boxes are a different stream from cups, coated trays, and food-soiled cartons. The list determines where collection points belong and which questions need a venue or hauler decision.
Pair recycling with trash
Public-event guidance from the City of Portland recommends placing recycling and garbage together, using clear labels, and positioning stations where waste is generated. The same principle helps behind the scenes: a cardboard point without a nearby place for plastic and trash invites contamination.
Give vendors one plain instruction
Tell vendors when to flatten boxes, where to take them, and what must stay out. Repeat the instruction in the load-in note and at the event briefing. If volunteers monitor waste stations, give them a single contact for material questions.
Reserve a dry, accessible staging area
Choose a covered location that does not block exits, fire lanes, or teardown traffic. Confirm when the collection vehicle can enter and who will unlock gates. Do not let cardboard drift into several small piles that must be found after vendors leave.
Close with a final sweep
Assign one person to check vendor rows, food areas, and the staging point before collection. Separate obvious contaminants and photograph the final volume. The photos help confirm that the assigned vehicle and crew match the real pile.
Use this checklist
- Ask vendors what they bring
- Pair cardboard and trash points
- Use one clear instruction
- Name a sorting contact
- Reserve covered staging
- Photograph final volume
Related service
Event Cardboard Cleanup
Post-event cardboard sorting and pickup planning for vendor and delivery packaging.
View the service