Cornwall takes the lid off food and drink carton recycling

The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment has partnered with Cornwall Council to slash waste in the region

A new food and drink carton recycling pilot has been launched in Cornwall.

The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) has partnered with Cornwall Council to allow seven Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) to recycle packaging such as Tetra Pak containers and paper cups.

An estimated 450 tonnes of beverage cartons are put out for waste collection each year in the region – during the two-year pilot, the public will be able to take them to one of the HWRC facilities before being sent to a specialist facility near Halifax.

Cornwall’s HWRCs, in places such as Connon Bridge, Falmouth and Helston, already handle around 80,000 tonnes of waste each year, of which more than half is sent for recycling.

This currently includes household appliances, mattresses, gas bottles, wood, bonded asbestos, tyres, soil and rubble.

Mandy Kelly, Senior Recycling Manager at ACE UK said: “It’s great news that food and drink cartons and paper cup recycling has now come to Cornwall.

“From our conversations with the council we know residents are keen to recycle cartons, so we are extremely pleased to install bring banks at these seven sites and of course all cartons and cups collected will be recycled here in the UK.”

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