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New recycling banks have been set up at recycling centres in Warwick District for your food and drink cartons. Cartons cannot be recycled through the red box scheme at the moment so it is hoped that these new facilities will provide an easy alternative for residents to recycle their cartons.
Which cartons can I recycle?
All liquid food and drink cartons can be recycled in the new carton banks including:
- Fruit juices and soft drinks
- Milk
- Soups and sauces
- Tomato products i.e. chopped tomatoes
No plastics, plastic bags, card/cardboard, cans, glass or foil - any amount of these items in the carton recycling bank may mean that the entire contents have to go to landfill!
Where can I recycle my cartons?
New sites: Select the postcode to get a map
- Covent Garden Car Park, Russell Street, Leamington Spa, CV32 5QB (at the rear of Tesco on The Parade)
- Castle Farm Recreation Centre, Fishponds Road, Kenilworth, CV8 1EY
- Sainsburys, The Saltisford, Warwick, CV34 4TR
Existing sites:
- Princes Drive Recycling Centre, Princes Drive, Leamington Spa, CV31 3PH
- Cherry Orchard Recycling Centre, Pipers Lane, Kenilworth, CV8 2UB
What should I do with my cartons?
- Wash (TOP TIP - using leftover washing up water helps to save water)
- Squash
- Recycle (TOP TIP - save up the cartons and then recycle next time you're passing a recycling bank)
How are they recycled?
Cartons are made out of paper with an aluminium foil and plastic coating which keep the liquid contents fresh. This mixture of materials means they have to be recycled at a specialised facility that can separate the paper from the aluminium and plastic. They do this by mixing the cartons with water in a giant food mixer. The paper turns into pulp leaving the aluminium foil and plastic which can then be easily separated from the mixture. The pulped paper is recycled back into paper products such as egg boxes, envelopes and writing paper and the plastic and aluminium is used to generate energy or separated into pure aluminium and paraffin for other uses.
The food and drink cartons are collected by Tetra Pak Ltd in conjunction with the carton industry body ACE UK (Aliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment). They are transported to local collection centres where they are sorted, stored and baled until a full truck load is ready to be transported for recycling. The cartons are sent to two recycling facilities in Europe as there are no facilities in this country at the moment. However, trials are currently being conducted with UK recycling mills so that recycling can hopefully happen closer to home in the future.
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