Answers to your questions
What does the scheme involve?
The Food and Beverage Carton recycling scheme is a voluntary, member-funded product stewardship scheme run by The Packaging Forum. It was launched in January 2024 by the Forum and is 100% funded by members and provides sustainable, end of life solutions for food and beverage cartons.
What can be collected?
We can only accept food and beverage cartons – these are otherwise known as liquid paperboard, or the type of carton that UHT or plant-based milk, juice boxes, stock etc come in.
We cannot collect paper, plastic (any type), coffee cups, ice cream cartons, glass, or metal. Any of these materials will contaminate our collections and can damage our processing equipment.
Do we need to prepare the cartons for collection?
Yes! Every carton needs to be empty, clean, and flattened, and the caps are left on.
Where can I drop off the cartons?
There are locations all around the country you can find a location here
How are the cartons recycled?
Think of an industrial scale Toasted Sandwich maker and you have a good approximation of the saveBOARD process. First the cartons are shredded and then heated in a press, where approximately 20% of a food and beverage carton, which is plastic, melts and becomes the “glue” to the finished product which looks much like a sheet of plywood. There is no added glue or resins, nor water, used in the process. The boards are trimmed to width and length with all the waste going back into the process – so there is minimal waste; and all of this is done here in Aotearoa New Zealand with 100% renewable electricity.
And at the end of a saveBOARD’s life or any waste created when it is used on a building site can go back to saveBOARD to be made into another board – the circular economy at work.
Who does the recycling?
Once the cartons are collected, they are transported to one of our processing partners – for example, we are working with saveBOARD that will process and recycle the cartons into other products including sustainable building supplies.
Does the recycling process have a large environmental impact?
The recycling process for the cartons has a relatively low impact. Our current processing partner saveBOARD uses only 100% renewable electricity, and it is all done here in Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition, there is minimal waste as any off cuts are re-processed and are turned into the new products.
Who is behind the Food and Beverage Recycling Scheme?
The Food and Beverage Carton recycling scheme is a voluntary, member-funded product stewardship scheme run by The Packaging Forum. It was launched in January 2024 by the Forum and is 100% funded by members and provides sustainable, end-of-life solutions for packaging, particularly food and beverage cartons.
Members pay for the collection of the cartons and pay the processor to recycle the material collected.
How did the Scheme start?
The scheme was initially started by Tetra Pak that took a leadership position to recover materials and find an end-of-life solution for its packaging – it has now grown from a manufacturer led programme to a wider industry led initiative.
How do I know if the carton can be recycled with the scheme?
All food and beverage cartons can be recycled through the scheme. Cartons from all manufacturers and all brands. Just make sure they are opened out and cleaned. Check out where you can recycle and locations here
Labelling
We are working on a standardised label for the Scheme. More details on this to follow.
What do I with the straw? / Will you recycle my straw?
Due to the logistics of the drop off network around New Zealand, and the fact that food and beverage cartons are baled before being transported for recycling (to reduce the environmental and financial costs) there is a very high risk of them being littered. Obviously, we don’t want that so please dispose of your straw in the rubbish bin before recycling your cartons.
