After beverage cartons have been collected, either from the kerbside or via the bring bank system, they are taken to a sorting or bulking facility for onward transportation to the carton recycling facility.

Here, baled cartons are dropped into a pulper, similar to 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 are then separated from the fibre for further processing.