1
Tetra Pak Fact Sheet Why can’t I recycle Tetra Pak plastic? Tetra Pak is composite packaging consisting of a coated cardboard outer layer, an inner layer coated with foil, often with a plastic pouring spout. This makes it difficult to recycle for several reasons. Because the cardboard is coated, normal paper and cardboard reprocessing systems cannot break down the fibres, there are no UK mills that can take this material. This means that if they are to be collected for recycling they have to be kept separate from all of the other materials. If they were included with either the paper or the cardboard they would have to be removed. Most of the Tetra Paks collected in the UK are sent to a plant in Sweden for recycling. In this process some of the cardboard is recovered but the foil, plastic and the cardboard that cannot be separated has to be incinerated. This means that only 75% of the packs are actually recycled. Most Tetra Pak cartons contain food or drink residue, which also acts as a contaminant in reprocessing and can contaminate paper or cardboard if collected together. Tetra Pak cartons make up less then 0.5% of residual waste. Because Tetra Paks are light weight and stackable they are very attractive to retailers for liquid, or semi liquid products. There is a trend to use them more often in replacement of traditional 100% recyclable bottles and tins. Tetra Pak are keen to improve their environmental credentials, especially as packaging regulations mean that they must either be responsible for recycling a large proportion of their product or pay for their obligations through the Packaging Recovery Note system (PRN’s). The company has offered a collection model to local authorities in which they supply a limited number of collection banks and pay for their servicing for a two year period. While the initial offer from Tetra Pak is attractive, there are concerns about how the scheme would be developed and funded after the two year period and if collection of the cartons could be managed throughout the county. Other high performing councils in the UK have examined the offer in detail and have also rejected it. It is also not considered to be environmentally beneficial to transport such lightweight material such a long distance in order to recycle such a low proportion of the material. When a sustainable system for collecting and reprocessing Tetra Pak cartons is identified it will be introduced across the county. We have a policy to reduce waste to landfill and to increase recycling participation following seven key principles contained in its Waste Reduction Strategy. Where facilities are not available to recycle certain types of packaging, the advice is to try to avoid it by choosing recyclable alternatives. In most cases glass or plastic bottles and glass jars can be substituted for Tetra Paks. We recognises that committed recyclers wish to divert as much material as possible. But as over 20% of the waste that is sent to landfill in the county is material that could be recycled in the traditional collection systems, we are concentrating our efforts in trying to encourage as many people as possible to commit to recycling their paper, plastic bottles, cans and glass.
