A recent study has found that recycled pizza boxes in Germany are contaminated with BPA and BPS. Wait, aren’t these substances banned in Europe? Yes, they are. BPA is supposedly coming from recycled thermal paper. Wait, didn’t thermal paper had to become BPA-free by law in 2020 and is generally unsuitable for recycling? Exactly. But if recyclers can’t keep BPA-contaminated materials like thermal paper out of the recycling stream, and BPA is banned in the EU, then doesn’t that mean every piece of recycled paper is technically illegal?

Uh, anyway… The first pizza box made of corrugated cardboard was patented in the USA in 1963. From then on, pizzas could be delivered undamaged. In 2019, Pizza Hut tested a round pizza box made from processed sugarcane. A round delivery box for a pizza. The audacity.

The global pizza box market was valued at around USD 3 billion in 2024.