Collection of food and drink cartons at the kerbside

The purpose of this guide is to provide information on the economic, operational, environmental and policy aspects of kerbside carton collections so that officers can make informed decisions on the best way to handle and market this material for effective recycling.

The advice given in the guide is based on observations of local authorities with existing carton collection and sorting systems, as well as interviews carried out with local authorities and other waste carton stakeholders.

It has been produced in conjunction with The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) UK. Richard Hands, Chief Executive of ACE UK said: 

We very much welcome this guidance, which will be of real help to local authorities and waste contractors looking to include beverage cartons in their recycling collections, and we are grateful to WRAP for producing it. We have seen good progress in beverage carton recycling over the last few years, but we are committed to increasing it still further. This is a great step forward. If further advice or information is needed we would be pleased to help. Please do get in touch. 

The guidance has been developed by WRAP as part of its Framework for Greater Consistency in Household Recycling in England which includes cartons as one of the eight materials to be collected by local authorities.