The recycling of beverage cartons in the EU rose to 40% in 2012, according to the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), representing an increase of 3% compared to 2011.
The ACE organisation has also confirmed that the total recovery rate (recycling and energy recovery) of beverage cartons reached 69% in the EU in 2012.
An increase in recycling rates was also recorded across Europe (EU-27, Norway and Switzerland), with 39% of beverage cartons being recycled and total recovery reaching 70%.
Katarina Molin, director general of ACE, says: “In 1992 only 6,000 tonnes of post-consumer beverage cartons were recycled. In 2012 this number has increased to about 380,000 tonnes.”
ACE members have been “very much engaged” across Europe to foster the recycling of beverage cartons, Molin says: “A lot has been already achieved, but more progress can be made in supporting the recycling of beverage cartons by ensuring an appropriate EU regulatory framework is in place.”
Molin adds that recycling is the “favoured” waste management option for beverage cartons at ACE.
ACE members include beverage carton producers Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc and Elopak; they develop, manufacture and market systems for the processing, packaging and distribution of food, and produce packaging material at 20 plants in Europe.
About 98% of the paperboard used by ACE members in beverage cartons in Europe is produced by Stora Enso in Skoghall (Sweden) and Imatra (Finland), and BillerudKorsnäs in Gävle and Frövi (Sweden), also members of ACE.
