Recycling
Get to know our carton packages better
It's important to us that used cartons are disposed of responsibly. We do our best to make this happen by cooperating with stakeholders in lots of different ways.
Rubbish or resource?
What happens to used cartons?
If you live in an area where household rubbish is separated for recycling, your used cartons will be transported to a recycling plant. There, they will be soaked in water to separate the paperboard from the plastic and aluminium layers. The paper content can then be turned into new products like toilet paper, tissue and notebooks. The plastic and aluminium can also be recovered to make things like roof tiles or plastic pots.
Energy recovery
Recycling is not the only way to dispose of old cartons responsibly. They can also be incinerated and the energy recovered to generate heat and electricity. Some countries, such as Denmark, have decided to handle rubbish in this way. In Europe in 2007, 33% of all drink cartons were used to generate energy.
Did you know?
In 2003, no drinks cartons were being recycled in China. Now, the figure is over 10% and we are working to improve this even further.
Progress in recycling
The graph shows that in 2009, 27.1 billion Tetra Pak cartons were recycled globally. All together over the last seven years, we have seen a 73% increase in recycling.
Number of recycled packages (billion)
Making it easier
Making recycling as easy as possible
Even if there has been a 73% increase in recycling of Tetra Pak cartons in the past seven years, there is still a long way to go. We hope for rapid, widespread improvements in the coming years and for that to happen:
- Materials must be as easy as possible to recycle
- Recycling facilities need to be convenient and universally available
What's Tetra Pak doing about it?
Here are a few examples:
- Designing packages with recyclability in mind. Recyclability is measured at every stage of a new product's development.
- Cooperating with drink companies, public authorities, NGOs, industry groups and community associations to ensure our packages are recovered effectively.
- Local managers of Tetra Pak operations are evaluated, in part, according to their efforts to increase recycling.
- Recycling our own manufacturing waste and supporting beverage companies' initiatives to recycle theirs.
- Working with scientific institutions and businesses to develop new recycling technologies.
- Sending our engineers to paper mills worldwide, to help run tests and demonstrate the value of recycling cartons.
Recycling projects
Recycling projects from around the world
We work with lots of different stakeholders, including recycling companies, NGOs, schools and local government bodies worldwide.
Here are a few examples of the work we've been doing in cooperation with our partners:
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In Egypt
Collection rates up from zero to 18% in five years
Tetra Pak works with NGOs, paper traders and paper mills in Egypt to increase recycling. Over a five year period, collection rates increased from zero to 13% of all cartons sold.
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In Japan
Free carton recycling by mail
Together with a soy milk producer and a transport company, we developed the Marusan-Tetra Pak Recycling Service. This is a collection system in which consumers recycle their used cartons by mail, for free. The cartons are then shipped to a paper manufacturer to be turned into a range of recycled paper products.
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In China
Recycling up from zero to 10% in four years
We work with recycling companies, schools, NGOs, waste collectors and local government to help establish a sustainable collection and recycling system. Recycling levels increased from almost nothing in 2004 to about 10% in 2008. In 2008 approximately 28,000 tonnes of used packages were recycled.
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Thailand
Over 21 million cartons recycled
Tetra Pak co-sponsored a nationwide carton collection and recycling campaign on a popular TV programme. Over 21 million cartons were recycled into notebooks and these were donated to schools, along with supporting educational material.
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UK
85% now have access to carton recycling facilities
Tetra Pak works with local authorities, collectors and NGOs to facilitate used carton collection, provide consumers with information and help identify markets for the recycled material. Consequently, over 85% of UK local authorities now provide access to beverage carton recycling.
Challenge
The success of recycling schemes depends on the commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders. Our challenge is to find out where Tetra Pak’s support can be most useful - in areas like technology development, the growth of recycling infrastructure and increased consumer awareness.
What can you do?
There are lots of ways - big and small - in which you can contribute to a more sustainable future. Try these links and suggestions to get started.