[dredmorbius]

Cardboard refuse is environmentally benign. It's wood fibre (and a few other bits) which break down in nature, usually within a few weeks or months at most.

Plastic refuse persists for hundreds to thousands of years, and is itself biologically active, often interfering with endocrine or other bodily signalling functions, if not other long-term chronic poisoning, or sheer physical blockage.

Cardboard sourcing of course has environmental impacts through deforestation, monoculture, and land-use impacts. That's another story.