AbstractSupercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO2) extractions of paraffin‐based wax coatings from saturated and curtain‐coated old corrugated containers (OCC) are reported. Extractions were performed in a 500‐mL reactor (300 bar, 100°C, 50 g CO2/min and 1 h). Wax removal efficiencies of 98 and 70% for saturated and curtain‐coated OCC, respectively, were obtained. Under similar conditions, extractions in the presence of water resulted in an extraction efficiency of 99% for saturated OCC. Decreasing the operating pressure to 200 bar decreased the extraction efficiency to approximately 50%. Gas chromatography (GC) of the wax coatings on OCC, before and after extraction with SC‐CO2, showed a slight shift in the molecular weight distribution of the paraffin wax (after SC‐CO2 extraction) toward higher molecular weights for both saturating wax and curtain‐coating wax. There was no evidence of chemical degradation or modification of the paraffin wax coatings by SC‐CO2. The packing density, packing arrangement, and dimensions of the curtain‐coated OCC in the extraction apparatus affected the extraction efficiency. Loose packing compared to tight packing, 1 × 1 cm squares versus 1 × 20 cm strips, had higher extraction efficiencies; a random packing arrangement was better than packing with the fluting material in the direction of SC‐CO2 flow. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2699–2704, 2002