Cartons have been with us since the 1950s when the Swedish company, Tetra Pak developed packaging which was economical to produce and could hold liquids.  Although cartons are coated with plastic or, for longer life products, aluminium, they are mainly made from paper (minimum 70%) - so they are one of the more environmentally sound methods of packaging.  The paperboard used in the construction of cartons is a natural product from a renewable resource that is responsibly replenished - trees!  And at the end of its life, most of the carton can be reclaimed in the recycling process.

When you put your cartons in the recycling bin, you are doing a lot more than keeping them out of landfill - you are contributing to a new product.  When the cartons reach the specialist recycling centre, they are shredded, mixed with warm water and pulped in a huge type of washing machine.  The paper fibres are then separated from the plastic and aluminium linings. The recovered paper fibres are rolled flat and used to make office paper, tissues or tubes (for example in the centre of toilet rolls or on a much larger scale, for industrial use).  Uses for the smaller proportions of plastic and aluminium extracted from recycled cartons are also being found nowadays.

Unfortunately, many cartons are still going to landfill via household rubbish collections.  Let's try to increase the proportion of cartons that are recycled by thinking before we put them in with our normal kitchen rubbish.  Remember that, as well as products from the chilled sections of your local supermarket (such as milk, fresh juice, smoothies and soup), cartons are also used for packaging on the normal shelves for example for small carton drinks for children, tomatoes, long life juice and wine.

Before putting empty cartons into your black recycling bin, rinse them out and remove any lids, straws, or fancy extras that come with your packaging.  If you can, flatten your cartons to reduce the space they take up in your bin.

Remember, as a wise sage once said:  'when the contents are gone, let the carton live on.'