What Have We Done About It?Tetra Pak is extremely serious about supporting carton collection and recycling in the UK. Our aim is to make it easier than ever to recycle, so there can be no excuses for not doing so.
Before June 2007 we faced a challenge, only 20% of all Local Authority areas were collecting cartons for recycling. We needed to change this fast.
We had a plan, and we set about putting it into action.
Recruiting a National Recycling Officer in early 2006 was a big step in the right direction. It has enabled us to co-ordinate our efforts, and ensured that we had someone available to help Local Authorities and other recycling partners in identifying and implementing solutions to help increase collections across the country.
To expand these efforts in 2007, we recruited two more Recycling Officers.
With the people in place, we also set about making funds available. Tetra Pak provided an initial £300,000 National Recycling Fund in early 2006 and, along with industry partners in ACE UK, invested a further £1.2m to support Local Authorities set up recycling and collection facilities.
This was simply not fast enough. With 434 Local Authorities across the UK, having to find customised collection solutions for each area was proving difficult.
To solve this, we took a radical step. We partnered with several key waste contractors across the UK who could provide a maintenance and collection service for bring banks across the country. We then bought the bins and then offered this to Local Authorities as a fully paid-for, carton bring bank solution.
Simple!
The feedback we received was overwhelming and already the carton recycling picture in the UK has changed. Most Local Authority areas across the UK collect cartons for recycling and through this solution, we are able to guarantee that all cartons that get collected that meet mill specifications will be recycled.
Tetra Pak is now working with Local Authorities to find ways to move to kerbside collection where possible. This form of collection generally offers higher collection and recycling rates as it provides a more convenient collection solution to consumers.
To find out more about the solutions in place to help drive carton recycling in the UK, please click on the different areas of our interactive recycling map..
