The story of carton recycling
Ever wondered what happens to a carton after it’s used? With adequate collection, sorting and recycling infrastructures in place and at scale, cartons can get a second life – transforming into paper products, shopping bags, pallets, and more.
Watch the film to see how cartons help keep valuable materials in circulation.
The story of carton recycling
Ever wondered what happens to a carton after it’s used? With adequate collection, sorting and recycling infrastructures in place and at scale, cartons can get a second life – transforming into paper products, shopping bags, pallets, and more.
Watch the film to see how cartons help keep valuable materials in circulation.
Everybody loves a
good comeback
The more that materials are kept in use, the more that demand for fossil-based materials can be reduced and the environmental impact associated with their extraction and processing can be minimised.
Once cartons have served their initial purpose, they can be transformed into new materials. The paper fibers are separated from the polymers and aluminum (polyAl), creating two valuable recycling streams: paper fibers for new paper products and polyAl for a variety of durable goods, such as warehouse pallets, outdoor furniture, floor panels, and more.
By collaborating with recyclers, we’re helping to build markets for these recycled materials, keeping valuable materials in circulation.
Investing to expand
carton recycling
Food packaging is essential for getting food to where it is needed. But it’s journey shouldn’t stop there. Once used, cartons can be collected and recycled into valuable raw materials, where collection, sorting and recycling infrastructures exist at scale.
To make this possible, we collaborate with stakeholders across the value chain to strengthen recycling systems - investing up to €40 million annually to expand recycling capacity. We also commit €100 million per year to enhancing the environmental profile of our aseptic cartons by simplifying material structures, increasing renewable content - such as the paper-based barrier - and improving recycling.
*Wohner, B., & Tacker, M. (2020, December). Supporting evidence: Environmental performance of beverage cartons. University of Applied Sciences Campus Vienna.