From Used Boxes to Sustainable Sustainability: UCB Environmental’s Model

Guest: Marty Metro, CEO at UCB Environmental

Host: Tim Ridderbos, VP at Shapiro

What happens when a simple idea—buying and selling used boxes—evolves into a multi-division platform for waste reduction, shared savings, and real-world circularity?

In this episode of 5 for Five, Shapiro’s Tim Ridderbos sits down with Marty Metro to trace the journey from UsedCardboardBoxes.com to UCB Environmental—the umbrella for UCB Pallet Solutions, UCB Zero Waste, and the soon-to-launch UCB Organics. Marty shares how his team uses a shared savings approach and technology-first systems to cut costs and keep materials in circulation.

“How do we manage waste? We manage it on a shared savings program… if I can save you a dollar, you get savings, we get a part of that savings, and it’s a win-win.”
— Marty Metro, UCB Environmental

 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Time Stamps:

00:13 – Who is Marty Metro?
01:19 – What is UCB Environmental? (from Used Cardboard Boxes to a full platform)
02:21 – How UCB helps customers with sustainability (shared savings model)
03:40 – How technology powers UCB’s solutions
05:03 – What is “sustainable sustainability”?

From Used Boxes to a Unified Platform

UCB Environmental brings multiple operating units under one roof:

• Used Cardboard Boxes (UCB): The original business that made it easy to buy and sell used boxes.

• UCB Pallet Solutions: Real-time delivered, truckload quantities of pallets—ordered online.

• UCB Zero Waste: Waste management on a shared savings basis.

• UCB Organics (launching): Focused on food waste.

“Used Cardboard Boxes was our first company… That’s evolved into UCB Palette [Pallet] Solutions… UCB Zero Waste… UCB Organics… we needed an umbrella… and we thought UCB Environmental made the most sense.”

 

The Shared Savings Approach

UCB Zero Waste aligns incentives by tying its compensation to client results—no upfront program fees:

“We don’t charge… we go out and manage their waste, and for every dollar we save, we split the savings.”

This model meets teams where they are and proves impact with measurable cost reductions.

Technology Is the Engine

Marty’s enterprise runs on purpose-built software and logistics tools:

“Technology is everything for us… our software is everything to us.”

From inventory visibility on used boxes to real-time freight delivery for pallets, UCB builds systems that make sustainable choices practical and fast.

Sustainable Sustainability

Programs only work if they last—financially and operationally:

“We believe that in order to have a sustainability program, it needs to last. It needs to be sustainable, not just in an environmental way, but in a financial way.”

UCB focuses on finding money and finding value within waste streams—then reinvesting those dollars to keep initiatives running.

Want to Learn More?

UCB Environmental shows how circularity can scale when cost savings, technology, and execution move in lockstep.

Connect with Marty Metro
Connect with Tim Ridderbos
Connect with Shapiro

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