UK’s first carton recycling plant opens

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team September 3, 2013

Leading packaging firms team up to develop major new facility capable of recycling 40 per cent of the UK’s beverage cartonsThe UK’s recycling industry has received a major boost with the opening of the first facility capable of turning beverage cartons into usable materials.

The new facility in Stainland near Halifax boasts enough capacity to recycle up to 40 per cent of the cartons used in the UK each year, meaning it could recycle up to 1.25 million cartons a year.

The plant has been developed as a joint venture between paper and packaging firm Sonoco Alcore and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) UK, an industry group representing leading packaging manufacturers Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc.

To date beverage cartons collected by councils for recycling have been shipped overseas for processing, leading to higher recycling costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The development of domestic recycling capacity aims to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions – the companies estimate it will be able to cut carbon emissions by 122 tons a year compared to the current practice of shipping cartons for recycling in Sweden.

It will also allow Sonoco Alcore to turn the card in the cartons into industrial-strength coreboard that is used in a wide range of industrial applications. Meanwhile, the fine polymer and aluminium layers found in beverage cartons will be separated as the companies assess a number of different recycling approaches with a view to having a solution in place next year. “The polythene and aluminium will be stored until then – it will not be landfilled or exported,” they added in a statement.

The companies said that it hoped the new facility would encourage more councils to collect beverage cartons by providing them with a stable and predictable price for recycling services, while also allowing them to reduce landfill taxes and gate fees by a total of £3.6m a year were the plant to run at full capacity.

The facility is to be officially opened later today by Waste Minister Lord de Mauley who hailed the project as benefiting both the environment and the local economy.

“Dealing with waste and recycling properly is not only good for the environment but can boost economic growth and create jobs,” he said in a statement. “This new recycling plant is an exciting development and I’m delighted to see businesses working together to improve our ability to recycle more here in the UK.”

His comments were echoed by Richard Hands, chief executive of ACE UK, who predicted that the new facility would make it easier for consumers and councils to boost recycling rates.

“The ultimate aim of our members – Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc – is to meet the requirements of retailers, manufacturers and consumers for packaging that is easy to recycle,” he said.

“Kerbside recycling schemes provide the most convenient collection method for consumers and we expect more cartons to be collected in this way now that local authorities have a secure domestic market for this material stream. While we have already made great progress – the number of local authorities collecting cartons at the kerbside has increased more than ten-fold in the last six years – we’re really excited by this development and its potential to further transform carton recycling in the UK.”

A spokesman for the project refused to disclose figures on the scale of the investment behind the plant, but insisted that it was “a mutually beneficial project for Sonoco Alcore and ACE UK”

This article originally appeared on the Business Green website.

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