• Find out where you can recycle your juice and milk cartons by looking at the interactive map on www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk. If you can’t currently recycle in your local area, you can download pre-addressed postage labels, so you can ensure all your cartons are recycled.

• Many people are under the misapprehension that cartons can’t be recycled, but they can. A typical carton will consist of paperboard (70-90% of carton), low-density polyethylene (10-25%) and a thin layer of aluminium foil (around 5% in long-life or aseptic packages). Despite this mixture of different materials, cartons can definitely be recycled.

• In fact, cartons are successfully recycled in large volumes throughout Europe, with an end product of high-quality carton fibre that can be used for paper carrier bags and envelopes. Unfortunately, carton collection and recycling in the UK still lag well behind European levels.

Which cartons can I recycle? All liquid food and drink cartons can be recycled in the new carton banks including:

•Fruit juices and soft drinks •Milk •Soups and sauces •Tomato products i.e. chopped tomatoes No plastics, Plastic bags, card/cardboard, cans, glass or foil - any amount of these items in the carton recycling bank may mean that the entire contents have to go to landfill

[edit] How are they recycled?

Cartons are made out of paper with an aluminium foil and plastic coating which keep the liquid contents fresh. This mixture of materials means they have to be recycled at a specialised facility that can separate the paper from the Aluminium and plastic. They do this by mixing the cartons with water in a giant food mixer. The paper turns into pulp leaving the aluminium foil and plastic which can then be easily separated from the mixture. The pulped paper is recycled back into paper products such as egg boxes, envelopes and writing Paper and the plastic and aluminium is used to generate energy or separated into pure aluminium and paraffin for other uses.

The food and drink cartons are collected by Tetra Pak Ltd in conjunction with the carton industry body ACE UK (Aliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment). They are transported to local collection centres where they are sorted, stored and baled until a full truck load is ready to be transported for recycling. The cartons are sent to two recycling facilities in Europe as there are no facilities in this country at the moment. However, trials are currently being conducted with UK recycling mills so that recycling can hopefully happen closer to home in the future