UK base cuts cost of carton recycling
It could also enable brand owners and retailers to tell a much clearer recycling story.
Since the Smith Anderson plant in Fife closed in 2006, taking with it the UK's only beverage carton recycling capacity, waste operators have had to export post-consumer cartons to Sweden, Italy or Spain.
25,000t capacity
Next month, Sonoco begins carton recycling from a new facility at its Alcore site in Halifax, with full production due to start in July. The 25,000t capacity will mean that, in theory, the plant can reprocess around 40% of cartons consumed in the UK, according to the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE).
"We are creating a market for this material in the UK, which hasn't existed up to now," said ACE chief executive Richard Hands. "Reprocessing in the UK means reducing transport costs and emissions. We can go to local authorities and offer them an improved deal financially. Many that collect kerbside but sell their waste elsewhere will switch, and others that don't yet have kerbside collection will take that route."
Today, around 50% of UK local authorities have domestic kerbside collections for beverage cartons, up from just 4% in 2006. "At least 10 more authorities will switch from 'bring' systems to kerbside this year, and this figure will increase as time goes on," Hands said.
The plant will help to justify recycling from a sustainability perspective. Tetra Pak environment manager Gavin Landeg said: "Based on lifecycle assessment, we believe recycling is the best environmental option for used cartons."
75% of a beverage carton
Fibre accounts for around 75% of a beverage carton. This will be separated from the remaining polyethylene (PE) and aluminium fraction through a combination of pulping and screening. The fibre content will be used in the Sonoco plant to produce the paper base material for spiral wound cores.
"With regard to the PE/aluminium mix, we're looking at different options at the moment, and will decide in the summer," said ACE's Hands. "But it will be reprocessed here in the UK."
Landfill tax rose from £64 to £72 a tonne in April, and will increase by the same amount next year.
ACE is responsible for its own 'bring' sites, while the majority of local authority-collected carton waste is sold on the open market. "We simply don't know where that ends up," Hands said. "We don't get involved."
