Where to throw the beverage cartons?

Beverage cartons are a constant presence in our kitchens, where they can contain milk, water, fruit juices, wine, cream, tomato puree, non-carbonated drinks, and many other foods. Thanks to their particular composition, in fact, they are ideal for packaging liquids. They are composite or laminated packaging, mainly made of cardboard, but integrated with a percentage of other materials - generally plastic and aluminum - which makes them waterproof.

How should beverage cartons be disposed of? Once emptied, they should be put in the paper unless there are specific indications from the local Municipality/Manager to put them in the multimaterial collection, but never in the undifferentiated! There is no fixed rule: the delivery varies from Municipality to Municipality and can also follow a third method.

Delivery methods
Since their main component is cardboard, it is possible to recycle beverage cartons in the paper mill. The collection phase that precedes recycling can follow three different routes, depending on what is established by the waste management system of the municipality of belonging. The packaging can be destined:

• in the paper and cardboard bin, from which they are subsequently separated;
• in the multimaterial collection (plastic and metals), from which, also in this case, they are then extracted;
• in an ecocompactor at the ecological island of the territory or within the urban perimeter.

Recycling, as we have said, takes place in any case in the paper mill: the paper, separated from the plastic and aluminum thanks to a mechanical process, will be recycled to create new cellulose-based products; plastic and aluminum will be reused to give life to other common use objects.

Indications for a quality separate collection

Before delivering a carton to the separate collection, observe these simple precautions:

• empty it;
• crush it to reduce its volume;
• remove the straws and deliver them in the paper, if they are made of paper, or in the plastic, if they are instead made of plastic;

• deliver the carton.