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Each year, UK beverage carton manufacturers produce approximately 55,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons for milk, juice, sauces and other liquid foods/drinks. This equates to around 2.3kg of cartons per household which could be recycled instead of thrown in the rubbish bin.

In response, the county council has worked with the carton industry to provide special collection bins at household waste recycling centres in Northamptonshire. Once collected they will be taken away to be baled and transported to a recycling mill where they will be recycled into a number of different products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.

Councillor Ben Smith, county council cabinet member for environment said:

?It's vital that Northamptonshire residents recycle as much of their household waste as possible because the county will face heavy fines if the amount of waste that goes to landfill is not reduced, and taxpayers will be left to pick up the bill.

?I am pleased that Tetra Pak and the carton industry is supporting us to help increase the number of cartons recycled in our county and hope that residents bring their cartons to our household waste recycling centres so that they can be processed appropriately.?

Richard Hands, Environment Manager at Tetra Pak Ltd and Chairman of ACE UK, added:

?Whilst cartons are successfully recycled in large volumes for many years throughout Europe, the UK has a long way to go. It's therefore fantastic news that Northamptonshire County Council is taking a lead by adding cartons to the list of materials collected for recycling at household waste recycling centres and we very much hope that the initiative is successful. We and our industry partners are committed to increasing the level of carton recycling in the UK with the aim of reaching a national network of carton collection by the end of 2008. Our work with Northamptonshire takes us and households in the country one step closer to achieving that.?