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All residents in St Edmundsbury can now recycle empty paper-based liquid food and drink cartons (such as those made by Tetra Pak) by washing them, squashing them and taking them to special collection points.

Two new trial banks have been set up at Sainsbury’s in Haycocks Road, Haverhill, and at Waitrose, Robert Boby Way in Bury St Edmunds. Cartons can also be taken to any of the three Household Waste Recycling Centres at Rougham Road, Bury St Edmunds; Coupals Road, Haverhill and Thetford Road, Ingham.

The cartons should not be put into the blue recycling bins because as they are made of several material types bonded together they can not be recycled through the sorting procedure at the Materials Recycling Facility at Great Blakenham. The separate collection stream has been set up with help from ACE UK, (the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment), who represent major carton manufacturers.

Cllr Peter Stevens, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Cabinet member for Environment and Street Scene said,
“St Edmundsbury residents’ enthusiasm for recycling has put the borough among the top authorities in the country and we expect they will make this trial a great success. It is estimated that each person uses 54 paper-based cartons a year, which could all be given a new life, rather than ending up in landfill.”

55,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons are produced a year, for milk, juice and even wine and chopped tomatoes. They comprise 70 to 90 per cent paperboard, 10 to 25 per cent low density polyethylene and in long life and aseptic packages, about 5 per cent aluminium.
Recycling involves mashing the cartons with water and separating out the linings. The paper fibres are long and strong and ideal for combining with shorter fibres, reducing the need for virgin fibre. End products include plasterboard liner and high-strength paper bags and envelopes, which can also be recycled up to five times. The remaining mix of plastic and aluminium can be used in furniture, to generate energy or even separated out into pure aluminium and paraffin.