UK's first carton recycling plant opens
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 14:05:42
This month a new recycling plant has opened in Stainland and, at the time of writing, it is the only facility of its kind in the UK which is capable of recycling food and drink cartons, according to the Halifax Courier.
The centre will be able to recycle over a billion cartons annually, which equates to two fifths of the UK's total drinks carton market.
The process is almost entirely automated and the extracted materials will be used by company, Sonoco, to produce new products.
A number of key carton manufacturers have been involved in the foundation of the plant and it is likely to have a major impact on recycling in the UK.
In the past, it was difficult for councils to deal with cartons such as those created using the Tetra Pak system, since many had to be shipped overseas to be dealt with, or they were simply sent to landfill.
Now that the recycling facilities to handle such waste exist on British soil, it will be much easier for councils to offer kerbside collection for this type of item.
Spokesperson, Tim Swift, said that the use of the facility would be beneficial not only to residents in the vicinity, but many thousands of households across the UK.
Of course, the recycling of household rubbish may be organised by councils, but a number of private businesses are involved in offering their facilities and services, which means that certain contracts may need to expire, before a wider array of local authorities can deal with food and drink cartons domestically.
Drinks cartons not only contain paperboard fibres, but also thin layers of aluminium, which need to be separated out and recycled elsewhere, to extract the residual value and ensure that the environmental impact is minimised.
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