Upcycling of Carton Waste Into Functional Materials for Value‐Added Applications

ABSTRACT

The growing accumulation of carton waste poses significant environmental challenges and highlights the urgent need for sustainable recycling strategies. This review evaluates upcycling carton waste into high‑value functional materials, highlighting its cellulosic richness and resource benefits and noting that producing recycled cellulose fiber requires only 75% of the energy of virgin feedstocks. This review explores the potential of upcycling carton waste into high‐value functional materials, offering a comprehensive overview of its composition, upcycling pathways, and diverse applications. The review begins by discussing sources and components of carton waste, emphasizing its rich cellulosic content. It then explores two main upcycling strategies: the first is direct recycling, which preserves the integrity of the material's key components by extracting cellulose and repurposing it into composite functional materials for a wide range of applications. The second approach involves transforming carton waste into carbon‐rich materials with significant potential in energy storage, environmental remediation, and other applications. Also, this review analyzes the key advantages of recycling carton waste, particularly improved resource efficiency, reduced costs, and tangible environmental benefits. The review concludes by outlining prospects and targeted research directions to advance carton‑waste upcycling as a viable route to sustainable material development.