In early September FSC UK staff, alongside representatives from the Co-op, soft drinks association and Tetra Pak, were given a tour of the UK’s first beverage carton recycling plant. This facility is the only beverage carton recycling site in the UK, and receives a large proportion of the cartons collected by councils from kerbside collections and from drop-banks. Currently 57% of local authorities collect these cartons kerbside, and the target for ACE UK is for this to rise to 85% by 2016.
The facility, which has a 25,000 ton/year capacity, is set in the quiet farming countryside of Yorkshire, outside Leeds. Pass by it on the road and you would never have guessed at what goes on down a quiet drive, past a block of flats and alongside a small stream. ACE (The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) UK is an industry body that represents Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc. The card used in these packs, much of it FSC certified, is supplied by BillerudKorsnäs and Stora Enso. The facility is jointly run by ACE UK and Sonoco Alcore.
This card is the main focus of the recycling facility. The plastic and aluminium which also forms part of the cartons is separated from the card but remains bonded together. Methods of reusing this material are currently being investigated.
The process begins with huge bales of cartons, compressed together and loaded onto the conveyor belt on forklifts. They then enter the process, first being blended up with the addition of river water, and the pulped card separated through sieves. This process uses water directly from the river outside the plant, does not heat it up, and does not add any chemicals. The water, once cleaned, can be delivered straight back into the river.
The pulp is then cleaned to remove any impurities and send to become paper or card again in a different part of the same plant – the complete recycling process on one site.
It was enlightening to see what happens to material that started life in an FSC certified forest somewhere around the world (probably Scandinavia in this case). The recycling process for fibres is not indefinite – this was the first time these materials had been recycled and their lifespan will only cover this process up to eight times before the fibres become too short for reuse. The beverage cartons themselves use virgin material because the long fibres aid the structural integrity of the cartons, prolonging the life of the liquid inside – another form of good environmental practice.
FSC UK appreciates the invitation to attend the tour, especially as ACE UK are so passionate about FSC certified forests and the best environmental practice. We encourage everyone to look for the FSC logo when they buy, and the logo on beverage cartons shows that the card is sourced responsibly.