Recycling Guide - Beverage cartons (e.g. TetraPak)

Combined recyclables, such as those used in beverage cartons, can now also be recycled on an industrial scale. Nevertheless, the collection rate of beverage cartons in Switzerland is less than 10%. Ironically, Swiss recyclers have to import beverage cartons from abroad in order to utilize capacity.

A standard beverage carton consists of cardboard and a PE film; in some versions, such as Tetra Pak, aluminum is also incorporated. These materials are separated during recycling and can be sent back to the individual recycling channels. There they are processed and fed into the recycling cycle.

The long-fiber pulp is a sought-after raw material because of the stiffness that can be achieved in cardboard. In Switzerland, corrugated cardboard for the packaging industry is made from the pulp obtained from collected beverage cartons.

Inseparable or contaminated plastic-aluminum mixture serves as an alternative fuel instead of hard coal in the cement industry or is used in fluidized bed furnaces to produce electricity.