Recycling Tetrapak (merged)

Altarf

steve-o wrote: »

It makes me want to use tetrapaks more and more now as the thought of the cartons being managed from a sustainable forest is more appealing to me than using a plastic bottle which is non renewable and although it is also recyclable, plastic is a continuous drain on our resources and cannot be renewed (like the sustained / managed forests used in tetrapaks).

Apart from the fact that 30 % of Tetra Paks are made from polyethylene and aluminium, and these elements are not recycled and are either sent to landfill or incinerated.

steve-o_3

Quote:
Originally Posted by steve-o
It makes me want to use tetrapaks more and more now as the thought of the cartons being managed from a sustainable forest is more appealing to me than using a plastic bottle which is non renewable and although it is also recyclable, plastic is a continuous drain on our resources and cannot be renewed (like the sustained / managed forests used in tetrapaks).

Apart from the fact that 30 % of Tetra Paks are made from polyethylene and aluminium, and these elements are not recycled and are either sent to landfill or incinerated.

Well, like I say, the recycling scheme is relatively new, and TetraPak are putting litterally millions of pounds into the scheme to recycle their product and change the false paradigm people have about them being non recyclable.

The points you have are valid, but there are stronger ones apposing those points.

The percentage of PE (PolyEthylene) and foil is not so much 30% of the total product. There are alot of different TetraPak products and paper weights, so taking the average weight, those figures would be more along the lines of 77% paper, 18% PE (plastic), 5% foil.

The remaining 23% (average) percent don't go to landfill, they are actually incinerated on site at the recycling plants to power the recycling process. So, the whole product is used and the process is powered by the very product its recycling!!! Cool huh! :cool:

There is also money being spent into a recycling form called "plasma recycling" this is a new process which is capable of extracting all the different products are reusing them cleanly (which includes the ability to extract the foil and re-supply it in pure aluminum slabs!) Also cool!

There is also a product called Tectan Board, which is essentially chipped up TetraPak cartons which are melted together using the PE within the product to form a kind of laminated MDF type material. Its strength and use characteristics are similar to that of MDF, however more research is being done to improve the finish and colour of the board.

Finally, lets not forget, plastic bottles are an oil based, non renewable resource. Plastic bottles cannot be recycled and used as plastic bottles again as the quailty is never good enough, they need "virgin" plastic, instead its recycled into toys, garden furnature etc etc etc and once it cannot be recycled any more as its quality degrades every time its recycled, it too, eventually goes to landfill. So, you think your bottles are always recycled, but eventually, they all end up in land fill one way or another! (And it can't be renewed!)

If we were to measure the "potential" proportion of plastic going to landfill from a TetraPak, versus that which will "always" eventually go to landfill from plastic bottles, the numbers are far greater for plastic bottles. And lets not forget TetraPaks use far less of that non renewable oil based raw material.

TetraPaks are also made from "virgin" products for quality reasons, however, the paper (nearly 80% of the product) is managed from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved managed forrests. So it is sustainable and totally environmentally friendly. So much so, that Lifecycle consider it as the most sustainable and environmentally sound packaging there is!!! Even over plastic bottles and even tin cans!!!

All these things, make me want to use TetraPaks more than any other packaging. The environmental aspects, even now, already beat the opposition hands down in my eyes and the future has many more things in store to make it even better!!! So its new and recycling points aren't everwhere just yet, but TetraPak went from something like 5% of local authorities accepting TetraPaks to 75% accepting them within about 6 months!!! So the even brighter future is just around the corner!

But again, this is just my opinion! And sorry for waffling on! God I can talk sometimes!!! :rotfl:

Steve.

C_Ronaldo

steve-o wrote: »

Not really money saving, but it is a "green" issue.

I just wanted to make people aware that tetrapaks are recyclable (you know, juice and milk cartons).

In the past, most local authorities won't accept them as the recycling facilities were not in place, however, they are now!!! So, even though you can't put them in your domestic recycle bin that gets picked up by the friendly bin man in most areas, something like 75% of local authorities now accept tetrapaks to recycle and you can take them to Tesco's and large supermarkets.

The move to recycle tetrapaks is quite new, so recycling points are not everywhere yet, but they are there! I checked my local area and there's about 3 points within 5 mins drive of where I live!!! It makes me want to use tetrapaks more and more now as the thought of the cartons being managed from a sustainable forest is more appealing to me than using a plastic bottle which is non renewable and although it is also recyclable, plastic is a continuous drain on our resources and cannot be renewed (like the sustained / managed forests used in tetrapaks).

You can go here to find out more and see where your local recycling point is!!!

tetrapakrecycling.co.uk

still cant recycle tetrapaks near me, you can take them 2 a few supermarkets with the recycling banks in another county but its to far to go just for that so we dnt bother

LittleVoice

I have been saving tetrapaks for a while now in order to take them to a recycling facility at a Tesco Extra store not too far away. Unfortunately it is no longer available there because of arson attacks it seems. The facility now only deals with cans and bottles.

C_Ronaldo

I came across one of the tetra recycling banks today at a tesco, handy to know its there, only thing is its at a tesco which isnt the nearest one or the nearest supermarket

Ben84

I can't recycle them where I live, so I still put them in the bin. I'm going to email our local council about this, they're usually quite positive about recycling. Getting in touch with local councils and even retailers that already have other recycling facilities for customers seems to be the way forward. They don't know how much public demand there is for these facilities until we tell them we want them.

jacksons_mum

my local council will now take them with the normal cardboard/paper

WEEGIE

If you live in Aberdeen, Sainsburys (the one at Berryden) has a recycling point for tetrapaks. :j Don't take your plastic bags to the store to be recycled, as they go straight into the skip!!!!! :eek:

Dustykitten

LittleVoice wrote: »

I have been saving tetrapaks for a while now in order to take them to a recycling facility at a Tesco Extra store not too far away. Unfortunately it is no longer available there because of arson attacks it seems. The facility now only deals with cans and bottles.

That's happened at our one too (Hatfield Oldings corner - which one are you referring too?). I emailed the tetrapak recycling website to ask them to update the list. They contacted Tesco who said that they did not know if it was coming back or not. I wonder if they have just decided doing card/tetra is too much work - ours was always overflowing they could never keep on top of it all as there is nowhere elese in the town to do either you have to go to the rubbish tip which is even further out of town.

Ben84

Dustykitten wrote: »

That's happened at our one too (Hatfield Oldings corner - which one are you referring too?). I emailed the tetrapak recycling website to ask them to update the list. They contacted Tesco who said that they did not know if it was coming back or not. I wonder if they have just decided doing card/tetra is too much work - ours was always overflowing they could never keep on top of it all as there is nowhere elese in the town to do either you have to go to the rubbish tip which is even further out of town.

It also happened to the one in Winchester, it was set alight more than once and they got rid of it after that. Unfortunately, it was the only facility for recycling terapak here.

I'm suspecting it has been a problem in quite a few places.