Recycling
Following significant investment from our members and our work with Local Authorities and others, the overwhelming majority of UK Local Authorities now recycle liquid cartons, either through household kerbside collections or ACE UK’s own bring bank network. The Government has also confirmed that cartons will be included in the core list of recyclable materials that all English Local Authorities must collect from households at the kerbside starting from 2026, under Simpler Recycling reforms.
In 2013, ACE UK set up and opened a dedicated liquid carton reprocessing facility here in the UK, in partnership with paper and packaging producer Sonoco Alcore.
All cartons collected via ACE UK’s bring bank network are recycled here and we encourage Local Authorities and waste management companies to use this facility too.
How are liquid cartons recycled at the facility?
The baled cartons are dropped into a pulper, which resembles a giant food mixer. They are pulped with water for around 20 minutes, which delaminates the packaging, breaking it down into a slurry.
The different layers of material are then separated, and the fibre is recycled at the on-site paper mill to manufacture coreboard, which is used to make cores and tubes for a variety of industrial applications.
