About cartons

The main products sold in cartons include milk and dairy products, fruit juices and beverages, wine, water, vegetable products, soups, desserts, soya and nutritionals (foods with functional additives such as calcium and vitamins).

What are cartons made from?

Cartons consist of two or three main materials, depending on whether the carton is for long- or short-life products:

• paperboard made from wood pulp - a renewable, natural resource (typically 75%)
• low-density polyethylene (typically 10-25%)
• aluminium foil (about 5%, only in long-life or aseptic packages)

The carton's structure

The composition of individual beverage cartons differs slightly according to their packaging size, shape, opening and manufacturer. However, all cartons can be recycled via carton collection points across the UK with nearly 90% of UK local authorities now collecting them. 

Renewable and natural

Renewable materials are not the same as recycled content.  Also, unlike using other virgin materials, they have a low impact on the environment because they are replaced at a rate comparable with their use.

The beverage carton is made from around 75% wood fibre - a renewable material if sourced from managed forests where trees continue to grow without depletion of natural resources. ACE member companies are committed to sourcing from forests that have responsible management practices in place.  To learn more about the environmental benefits of using a natural and renewable resource, click here.   

A low carbon footprint

Numerous Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) undertaken both by the industry and external organisations, such as leading environmental institute, IFEU, have found that during its life cycle the beverage carton has a low carbon footprint for two main reasons:
 
a)      The low carbon footprint of its main material – paperboard - which itself has a low carbon footprint because of :

• the very high share of biofuels at the paperboard production sites (on average 70%)
• the energy efficiency measures along the supply chain
• the increasingly high share of internal electricity production at the paperboard sites
• the low carbon intensity electricity mix in the countries where paperboard is produced
• the efficient utilisation of fibres in the paperboard (low grammage board)

 
b)       The resource-efficient processes used by the carton manufacturers:

• ACE members strive to reduce carbon emissions at the point of production, while seeking ways of reducing the carbon impact before the carton has even reached production sites.

In addition to the low carbon footprint benefit of the carton, the trees grown to produce the original wood fibre help to mitigate global warming, as they continually absorb CO₂ in order to grow.  As more trees are grown than are harvested, this renewable resource not only benefits industry by providing a continual source of packaging raw material, it benefits the environment too.