What to do with empty cartons / TatraPacks?

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Liquid Food Carton Manufacturers Association (LFCMA)
There has now a recycling plant in the UK since 2002. Baled cartons are dropped into a pulper and within 15 minutes the fibre has been separated from the other materials to form a brown 'soup'. The trummel or drum screen extracts the rejects of polyethylene and aluminium which, in phase 2 of the project, we hope will be used to fuel local power. The recovered pulp is then used in the manufacture of new paper products that require strength, such as filing and the ubiquitous fast-food carrier bag.

There are a few collection hubs around the country: Fife, Glasgow, Durham, Doncaster, Wigan, Stafforrd, Welshpool, Northampton, Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin. Contact the The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) at www.drinkscartons.com for more details.

The recycling facility will also accept cartons via post. Friends of the Earth had a promotion that paid the postage costs in 2002 and the Post Office honoured the Freepost labels until October 2004. You will now have to pay for the postage yourself. Follow these guidelines for packaging the cartons.

All beverage cartons containing milk, juice, soups, custards, sauces etc can be included

• Cartons must be rinsed out after use and drained
• Cartons must be flattened by pulling out the ears
• Plastic opening devices can be cut off to flat pack the cartons
• Pack the flattened cartons into any cardboard box
• Apply label and take to Post Office for despatch
• Paper cups can be included but not other paper apart from the box
• Avoid other packaging such as plastic or jiffy bags
• Parcel tape or string to seal the box is acceptable

You can download the above instructions and some labels here (PDF).

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