Alpro Soya cartons - recyclable or not?
I vastly prefer soya milk, but only wholebean organic since the taste of other soya milks doesn't suit. And it comes in cartons which I have been putting in my recycling box... but reading about cardboard cups with plastic linings, I wonder if I am doing the right thing. On the side of my Alpro Soya carton it says 'buying this Tetra Pak (R) carton helps you care for the world's forests'. That's good... but what about the oceans and the planet generally.
I have a look at the Alpo website (see https://www.alpro.com/uk/faq/detail/can-alpro-packs-be-recycled) and it says...
Yes. Tetra Pak® cartons are a lightweight, low resource, energy-saving form of packaging, designed to have minimum impact on the environment throughout their life. It is the only liquid food packaging made principally from a renewable resource – wood. The Tetra Pak® carton used for our products is designed to provide an energy efficient, airtight and safe means of packaging. The carton is a laminate of several layers of paper/ card, plastic and a single layer of aluminium. The aluminium does not come into contact with the product inside the carton because of a double layer of plastic that prevents this. Tetra Pak® have now launched carton recycling in the UK. Local collection schemes are being established in various locations around the country; more will follow soon. Cartons are not pulped with newspaper, magazines or other kinds of paper, so you should only put them in your existing recycling collection system if you are sure that Tetra Pak® cartons are accepted. The collected cartons are sent to a paper mill so that their strong, high-quality fibres can be recovered and used to make a range of new paper products, including carrier bags and envelopes. Check out Tetrapak's® website for further information www.tetrapak.co.uk®
Wow!... paper, card, plastic and aluminium. It does however say that it IS recyclable but only if the consumer is sure that the cartons are accepted in their local recycling scheme. Do I know this? I haven't previously checked, but now I do.
Fortunately, I receive a positive reply from
in which she explains...
'The Tetrapak/carton container you mention goes into the comingled recycling at our sites and is recycled. (the different types of recycling in this container are separated out at the disposal point). You are correct about the Tetrapak/cartons being of mixed material and difficult to recycle. Several years ago when I first worked in the Waste Management Unit it was not possible to recycle this material and it went to landfill. It has only been in recent years with new advances in technology that it is now possible to recycle these.'
so that's one bit of good news.
I have a look at the Alpo website (see https://www.alpro.com/uk/faq/detail/can-alpro-packs-be-recycled) and it says...
Yes. Tetra Pak® cartons are a lightweight, low resource, energy-saving form of packaging, designed to have minimum impact on the environment throughout their life. It is the only liquid food packaging made principally from a renewable resource – wood. The Tetra Pak® carton used for our products is designed to provide an energy efficient, airtight and safe means of packaging. The carton is a laminate of several layers of paper/ card, plastic and a single layer of aluminium. The aluminium does not come into contact with the product inside the carton because of a double layer of plastic that prevents this. Tetra Pak® have now launched carton recycling in the UK. Local collection schemes are being established in various locations around the country; more will follow soon. Cartons are not pulped with newspaper, magazines or other kinds of paper, so you should only put them in your existing recycling collection system if you are sure that Tetra Pak® cartons are accepted. The collected cartons are sent to a paper mill so that their strong, high-quality fibres can be recovered and used to make a range of new paper products, including carrier bags and envelopes. Check out Tetrapak's® website for further information www.tetrapak.co.uk®
Wow!... paper, card, plastic and aluminium. It does however say that it IS recyclable but only if the consumer is sure that the cartons are accepted in their local recycling scheme. Do I know this? I haven't previously checked, but now I do.
Fortunately, I receive a positive reply from
Jessie Harrison-Ford
Contract Delivery Officer
Waste Management Unit
Hertfordshire County Council
in which she explains...
'The Tetrapak/carton container you mention goes into the comingled recycling at our sites and is recycled. (the different types of recycling in this container are separated out at the disposal point). You are correct about the Tetrapak/cartons being of mixed material and difficult to recycle. Several years ago when I first worked in the Waste Management Unit it was not possible to recycle this material and it went to landfill. It has only been in recent years with new advances in technology that it is now possible to recycle these.'
so that's one bit of good news.
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