Council responds to residents’ call to recycle cartons

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Residents in Wandsworth can now recycle their food and drink cartons

It is estimated that if every household in Wandsworth recycled their food and drink cartons, some 600 tonnes of unnecessary rubbish could be prevented from going to landfill each year – the equivalent weight of about 80 double-decker buses.

The news that cartons including juice, milk and soup cartons are now accepted by Wandsworth Council for recycling may come as a surprise to many who have always assumed that paper-based cartons are recyclable. According to research by Ipsos-MORI almost half of residents are already recycling their cartons.

However, food and drink cartons, like those made by Tetra Pak, are typically made from three different materials – paperboard, polyethylene and aluminium foil – to preserve their contents. These materials need to be separated from each other which, until recently, made them difficult to recycle.

Cartons are now sent to paper mills in the UK where the paperboard is recycled into new products such as newspapers, paper bags, envelopes or plasterboard liner. The plastic and aluminium is often used in ‘energy from waste’ systems, which generate electricity to run the mill. Sometimes enough energy is produced to supply local businesses or the national grid.

Sam Jarvis from the Recycle Western Riverside campaign says: “It is great news that food and drink cartons have been added to the list of materials that can be recycled into really useful new products. Three-quarters of residents say they are satisfied with the range of materials that are currently recycled, but there is also a clear demand from people to be able to recycle more.”

Sam also advises residents to: “Make sure your efforts don’t go to waste and only put items in your orange sack or recycling bank that the Council can accept. Always give your food and drink cartons, cans, bottles and jars a quick rinse before you recycle them. Materials covered in food make your recycling smell, unpleasant to handle and difficult to recycle.”

For further information on recycling, visit www.westernriverside.org.uk or contact Wandsworth Council.

 

January 22, 2008