Cartons are a composite packaging material – in other words they are not made from paper alone but comprise of about 75 per cent paper, 20 per cent plastic (polyethylene) and 5 per cent aluminium foil (for long-life products). But that doesn’t mean they can’t be recycled, they can.
Some empty food and drink cartons such as those manufactured by Tetra Pak, one of the world’s leading food processing and packaging providers, go in your paper and card bin at home. These are:
However, some cartons are not so welcome. These include laminated plastic food/drink pouches; for example, baby food, cat food and coffee pouches which should go into your general waste bin.
Recycling is evolving all the time and some products once deemed unrecyclable are now accepted. Please check the packaging before deciding which bin to place it in.
The UK has only one carton recycling plant. It’s at Stainland, near Halifax. It opened in 2013 and handles about 40 per cent of the cartons manufactured in the UK each year.
Recycled cartons are used to create a wide range of new products, such as cardboard boxes, paper bags, office paper and even extra strong tissue.
