Two Northeast Pennsylvania-based companies with a passion for paper continue efforts to promote environmental sustainability.
As Earth Day approaches on Wednesday, Diamond K Inc. of Scranton — a paper scrap recycling company founded in 1955 — and American Paper Bag — a manufacturing company established in Sugar Notch in 2018 that produces customizable paper bags and mailers — remain committed to extending the life cycle of paper materials.
Terrence Burke, who took over ownership of Diamond K on Battle Avenue on March 1, noted the facility collects post-industrial paper clippings, books, cardboard and clean office paper.
“If individuals or small businesses don’t have access to recycling, they’re welcome to bring materials directly to us and we’ll make sure they continue through the proper channels in an environmentally responsible way,” he said.
Burke — whose family previously owned Northeastern Envelope Company in Old Forge — added that Diamond K’s processing center acts as the middleman between businesses within about a 100-mile radius that generate scrap and the mills that are turning the reusable paper back into usable paper products.
“We focus on keeping it in circulation instead of it winding up as waste,” he said. “We turn it into bales. We’re separating and making sure things are what each mill requires for their formula to reintroduce it into a pulping process to create the pulp and then create the finished paper product. It’s not consuming the resources that it would take to generate a brand new piece of paper material. Because of the steps these mills have taken, they can very efficiently reproduce paper products with paper waste. It’s more efficient than starting from nothing. The name of the game is to try to get the heaviest bale possible in order to maximize space on trailers.”
Diamond K receives about 300 tons of product per day — approximately 60,000 tons a year, Burke added.
“Coming from the paper world, I always kind of thought there was just colored paper, white paper, and brown paper, but there’s a lot more than that,” he said. “We get a pretty good mix of materials from a lot of different companies that you almost wouldn’t expect. Amazon sort of changed the paper industry. The amount of cardboard being produced is outrageous. You used to get cardboard boxes to move. Now, everyone has a stack of cardboard at their house from Amazon. Being able to recycle that kind of stuff, I’m pretty environmentally conscious myself, so it was nice to step into this business to conduct business but also be able to be helping the environment at the same time. It’s been pretty eye opening to see the different uses of things that can be reused and recycled. Someone from a national farm association buys fly leaf (paper scraps) and they use it as animal bedding.”
Everything from encyclopedias to junk mail and business cards may be dropped off at the center to be recycled and repurposed, Burke said.
“A lot of small actions can lead to bigger outcomes,” he said.
Diamond K Inc. owner Terrence Burke explains the process of compressing loose paper near the paper baler in a warehouse of his recycling facility in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A forklift operator works in a warehouse on the grounds of the Diamond K Inc. recycling faciltity in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Bundles of paper products take up space in a warehouse on the grounds of the Diamond K Inc. recycling faciltity in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Bundles of cardboard and paper products line the interior of a warehouse on the grounds of the Diamond K Inc. recycling faciltity in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Recycled paper is bundles together at the Diamond K Inc. recycling facility in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Diamond K Inc. owner Terrence Burke explains the process of compressing loose paper near the paper baler in a warehouse of his recycling facility in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Employee Ben Ramos operates a forklift in a warehouse at the Diamond K Inc. recycling facility in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Cardboard sits at the end of a baler at Diamond K Inc. recycling faciltity in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
An Amazon paper mailer produced by American Paper Bag in Sugar North. (Courtesy American Paper Bag)
An example of paper mailers produced by American Paper Bag in Sugar Notch. (Courtesy American Paper Bag)
An example of a shopping bag produced by American Paper Bag in Sugar Notch. (Courtesy American Paper Bag)
A paper bag created by American Paper Bag in Sugar Notch for Hilton. (Courtesy American Paper Bag)
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Diamond K Inc. owner Terrence Burke explains the process of compressing loose paper near the paper baler in a warehouse of his recycling facility in Scranton Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Sean Koenig, chief supply chain officer for American Paper Bag, stressed that the design of the packaging makes it environmentally friendly.
“A big part of our goal is to increase sustainability in this marketplace,” he said. “When you’re getting a plastic mailer or a plastic bag, our goal is to continue to replace it with paper. There is a lot about our design which significantly helps, not just from a recycled paper standpoint, but from the ability to reduce emissions. That comes from the shape of the bag with the gusset on the bottom versus what you normally see when you look at a grocery store bag or a paper sack lunch bag that have folds on the side. The sides kind of pinch together and you can fit a lot more on a pallet and on a truck. Because of the way they stack, there is less overlapping paper. If we can get additional (mailers) in a box that gets sent to a customer, that’s a big part of how we’re decreasing our carbon footprint.”
Throughout the past eight years, the company expanded from about 44,000 square feet of space in the Hanover Industrial Park to approximately 100,000 and opened another manufacturing facility in Reno, Nevada, last year.
“As we progressed, we’ve gotten in with pretty significant customers and have made a little bit of a name for ourselves for the bottom gusset product we make,” Koenig said. “If you look at our products, they’re very unique compared to a lot of what you’ll see in the marketplace. I think that’s helped win over a lot of our customers in certain areas. We have a very specific, very premium product that we can market. I think it’s really helped us grow to the company we are today. We brought in one line in the very beginning and since then have brought in several more to be able to continue to make this amount of production. We’ve seen a large influx in the demand from customers we’ve had for a while as well as new customers coming in looking for that sustainable paper bag.”
Koenig added the machines used by the company allow workers to create a bag that has a similar amount of space on the inside, but uses less paper.
“The machines use way less energy than a normal process to make a similar bag,” he said. “It’s not only great for us, because it makes our business more profitable, but it’s also using less energy draw on the local grid.”
Amazon is among American Paper Bag’s major customers, Koenig noted.
“Most of the paper mailers you’ll get in this area come from this facility, but we ship all over the United States out of our facility to make sure we’re supplying Amazon and continuing that paper sustainability initiative,” he said. “On the bottom of every Amazon mailer we make, it says Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania on it. It’s a huge stamp that says this is made in Northeast Pennsylvania.”
Additionally, American Paper Bag makes handled bags that are popular for food delivery services, Koenig said.
“The shape of our bag allows items to be placed in very well,” he said. “Our bag opens up at the center and can be fairly circular at the bottom to hold a lot of those containers very easily.”
American Paper Bag also strives to use as much recycled material as possible when producing bags for customers.
“Paper starts as a very premium product and it can be recycled several times through its life until it gets down to a degraded state, and can’t go any further,” Koenig said. “We can source recycled paper, and a lot of our customers take either 100% recycled or at least a 40% post-consumer material paper. It’s a sustainability effort that we know a lot about, and we can provide that expertise to customers who desire to have that kind of effect.”