The Carton Council of North America, based in Denton, Texas, says 57 percent of U.S. households report access to carton recycling. Thanks to collaborative industry efforts and support from communities nationwide, 67.1 million households across 48 states can now recycle their food and beverage cartons through curbside and drop-off programs, the organization adds.
Since the Carton Council was formed in 2009, it has been focused on building infrastructure for aseptic and gable-top carton recycling. When the organization was founded, just 18 percent of U.S. households could recycle cartons through their local recycling programs. Fifty-seven percent represents a 217 percent increase in carton recycling access, the organization adds.
Metro Las Vegas, Nevada, rolled out a single-stream recycling program in late 2015 that allows additional recyclables, including cartons. This represents more than 700,000 new households. A sampling of other notable communities that added cartons to their local programs last year includes Jefferson County, Missouri.; Santa Fe, New Mexico.; Harrisburg, Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania; Riverside County and parts of Orange County, California.; Greenville and Jacksonville, North Carolina; and Roanoke, Virginia. In total, the number of carton recycling communities rose to 11,500, which represents 80 of the top U.S. 100 communities, the Carton Council says.
“Last year represents significant progress for carton recycling,” says Jason Pelz, vice president of recycling projects for the Carton Council of North America and vice president, environment, for Tetra Pak Americas, with headquarters in Denton. “This is the result of many public-private partnerships coming together to help improve recycling. From communities and material recovery facilities who add cartons to their lists of accepted materials to companies who promote recycling to their consumers, all of these efforts make recycling overall more efficient and thus more successful.”
For example, the Carton Council hosts a “Carton Recycling Champions” network comprising 21 companies and brands that share a dedication to sustainability and realize the importance of communicating the carton recycling message to their consumers, according to the organization. These companies support the Carton Council’s efforts to raise the awareness of carton recycling to consumers across the nation.
“Our business model is centered on sustainability: from the product and the way it is sourced and produced to the packaging. We selected cartons because of their environmentally sensitive profile when the entire life cycle is considered,” says Grace Jeon president and CEO of JUST, which produces JUST Water in cartons. “With greater adoption of this sustainable packaging option by manufacturers and consumers, continued progress by the Carton Council and increased education and awareness of carton recycling, we are optimistic about the future of carton recycling access.”
The Carton Council says its plans for 2016 include continuing to focus on increasing carton recycling access.
“We hope that others in the recycling, packaging and food and beverage industries recognize that cartons are a mainstream commodity and a sustainable choice,” Pelz says.
The Carton Council says it will continue to support increasing recycling rates in markets where carton recycling already exists or is being added in 2016.
Four leading carton manufacturers, Elopak, SIG Combibloc, Evergreen Packaging and Tetra Pak, as well as an associate member, Weyerhaeuser, comprise the Carton Council.