David O'Donnell

EU beverage carton recycling hits 51 per cent

ACE Ireland has welcomed the latest figures released by ACE Brussels on EU beverage carton recycling rates, which exceeded 50 per cent for the first time. The recycling rate for beverage cartons in the EU28* rose to 51 per cent in 2019, a rise of 2 per cent on 2018 figures and a continued year-on-year increase.

“We are pleased that the steady annual increase of the recycling rate for beverage cartons in 2019 surpassed 50 per cent,” said Annick Carpentier, Director General of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) in Brussels. “This is proof of our industry’s efforts and enhances the message that beverage cartons are recyclable and are being recycled at scale in Europe.”

Beverage cartons, made largely from renewable materials, contribute positively to a low carbon circular economy. The industry is driving beverage carton recycling across Europe and is committed to efforts that support the increase of the recycling rates in all EU Member States. The industry calls on policymakers at the European and national levels to assure that beverage cartons are collected for recycling separately, and to support a collection target to ensure beverage cartons are collected for recycling.

“With an upcoming EU legislative agenda towards more sustainable packaging, the beverage carton is well positioned with a 51 per cent recycling rate. This is an opportunity to inform policymakers at all levels that beverage cartons are a safe, circular and sustainable packaging solution with a low carbon footprint, and how the beverage carton you use at your table can be easily collected and recycled,” continued Ms Carpentier.

A key objective for ACE Ireland is to profile and benchmark beverage cartons as a renewable, recyclable, and low carbon packaging choice. To that extent, at the outset of 2020, ACE Ireland explored opportunities around the potential roll-out of a dedicated beverage carton sorting and recycling trial in partnership with one of Ireland’s leading waste collection companies and material recovery facilities (MRFs).

A 2018 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Household Waste Characterisation study revealed that composite beverage cartons collected at kerbside in Ireland make up:

• 1.7% of mixed dry recycling (MDR).
• 0.6% of mixed residual waste (MRW).
• 0.8% (8,025 tonnes) of the total national waste profile between MDR and MRW.

An analysis of the capture rate per waste category and collection system in the same study revealed that of the 8,025 tonnes, 53 per cent was captured through MDR and 43 per cent through MRW, demonstrating a need for greater consumer awareness around the recyclability of beverage cartons. See tables below.

My Waste, Ireland’s official guide to managing waste supported by the Irish Government and operated by the offices of the three waste regions, has included beverage cartons on its list of paper and carboard items acceptable for household mixed dry recycling. Repak, the State company responsible for subsidising recycling efforts through charges levied on firms producing packaging waste has also included beverage cartons on its list of recyclable items.

Most beverage cartons placed on the Irish market end up in household waste. A 100 per cent kerbside collection system for mixed dry recycling across the country means that all Irish households have an accessible means for easily disposing mixed dry recycling items like beverage cartons.

Table 1: Kerbside collected household waste composition

Table 2: National kerbside collected household waste 2016

Challenges facing beverage carton recycling in Ireland

Irish MRFs currently categorise beverage cartons a non-target material meaning that they are capable of being recycled but are not being targeted by the collector for separation and sale. This may be because they do not have a buyer or because the materials recovery facility or reprocessor excludes it from their specification.

Beverage cartons that arrive at Irish MRFs through MDR kerbside collection are sorted as part of paper and mixed fibre streams, where they are baled and exported with other paper and mixed fibre materials. ACE Ireland emphasises that all paper-based beverage cartons should be sorted from mixed paper and card, so that they can be reprocessed in a dedicated facility which recycles all components properly like ACE’s plant in Halifax in the UK.

Establishing a beverage carton sorting trial with Clean Ireland and Forge Hill Recycling

Through engagement with Clean Ireland, one of Ireland’s largest waste management companies operating in the Mid-West and Forge Hill Recycling one of the largest MRFs in the country based in Cork, ACE Ireland ran a sorting during August and September 2020.

The key objectives of the trial were to:

• Establish recognition and awareness of best practice solutions in terms of the separation, sorting and recycling of beverage cartons from paper and fibre.
• Demonstrate the possibilities as regards the recovery of beverage cartons from co-mingled recycling streams in the existing logistical set-up of Irish MRFs.
• Highlight the opportunities dedicated beverage carton sorting offers Irish MRFs in terms of improving the quality of their paper and fibre output.
• Showcase how dedicated sorting can help drive consumer awareness of the recyclability of beverage cartons, in turn helping Ireland achieve any specific beverage carton recycling targets set out by Government, as committed to in the ‘Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy’.
• Ensure that best practice is developed by way of the trial being spread to other Irish MRFs.

Key learnings from the sorting trial

While this initial trial demonstrated that the dedicated separation and sorting of beverage cartons in Irish MRFs is possible in their current configuration, work still needs to be done to improve the quality of materials sorted and achieve a 95 per cent target material rate. This can be achieved through investment in additional sorting lines in Ireland’s MRFs and the monitoring of existing lines over time.

The trial also highlighted the financial shortfall to make the sorting of beverage cartons viable for Irish MRFs, which will need to be addressed. This can be done through increasing subsidy rates for MRFs targeting beverage cartons in household MDR and via an increased gate revenue for materials delivered to encourage MRFs to maximise capture for beverage cartons and minimise leakage to cardboard or mixed papers. Furthermore, an increase in presentation rates by households would also make a significant difference to financial viability for the MRFs to target beverage cartons. For example, increasing the capture rate from 1 per cent to 2 per cent would play a significant part in the commerciality for MRFs of adding new streams.

In February 2020, the Irish Government through the Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment launched a public consultation to gather views on the development of Ireland’s new Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy. The objective of the plan is to help Ireland move to a more Circular Economy where resources are kept in use for as long as possible and then recycled or reused at the end of their service life.

The purpose of the consultation was to enable Ireland develop a new waste policy / circular economy plan to meet the emerging challenges and build on targets set out in the Climate Action Plan and match the level of ambition in the waste and climate space shown across the European Union.

In our response to the consultation, ACE Ireland called on the Irish Government to adopt a whole life-cycle approach when shaping proposals for packaging in a low-carbon economy, including taking account of the vital role of packaging in preventing food waste and the benefits of using packaging made from low carbon, bio-based raw materials and to ensure that systems are in place to collect and recycle all recyclable packaging, including for on-the-go consumption.

Download our full consultation response here.

In September 2013, ACE officially opened the UK and Ireland’s only dedicated beverage carton recycling facility in Stainland, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, in partnership with paper and packaging producer, Sonoco Alcore. The plant can provide a recycling solution for beverage cartons sourced through mixed dry recycling kerbside collection in Ireland.

Sonoco Alcore uses the strong high-quality virgin wood fibres found in cartons to make industrial strength coreboard at its paper mill located on the same site. This is then made into tubes and cores, around which paper, man-made fibre yarns, and metal and plastic film for industrial applications are wrapped. All used beverage cartons received by ACE are recycled at the facility.

Three benefits of our dedicated beverage carton recycling facility are:

• A clearly-defined end destination for used beverage cartons.
• A stable price per tonne for cartons delivered – a better, more sustainable option compared to the price fluctuations on the global commodities market.
• A reduction in road and rail miles travelled by used beverage cartons for them to be recycled. Recycling cartons at the UK facility will lead to a significant reduction of transport-related CO2.

How are beverage cartons recycled at our plant?

When baled used beverage cartons arrive at the facility, they are dropped into a pulper, like a giant domestic food mixer, filled with water and pulped for around 20 minutes. This delaminates the packaging and breaks it down to produce a slurry. The aluminium foil and polyethylene liners can then be separated from the fibre for further processing in a new dedicated facility opening in Q2 2020. The polymer granules can be reused for a range of injection-moulded products, such as for the automotive and electrical industries, and aluminium granules for manufacturing new aluminium products.

All of the materials used in the manufacture of beverage cartons are recyclable at end of life, helping to reduce the use of virgin materials and cut carbon emissions. The high-quality wood fibres in cartons are long and strong, and can be recycled up to six times, making them a valuable raw material for new paper and board products. Check out the video below produced by our colleagues in ACE UK on how the facility works:

My Waste is Ireland’s official guide to managing waste, providing information on everything you need and want to know about managing your waste responsibly, efficiently and in the way that suits you. The MyWaste.ie website also provides details on local waste services, bring banks, and recycling facilities as well as ways to help you prevent waste, reuse, and upcycle.

To keep up with international standards in recycling My Waste has drawn up a list of the materials you can put in your household recycling bin.

In Ireland, beverage cartons are included on the official My Waste recycling list, meaning households can place their used beverage cartons in their recycling bin for kerbside collection. When placing beverage cartons in your green bin, ensure they are CLEAN, DRY and LOOSE.

Download the My Waste household recycling list here: