Where do Drinks cartons (Tetra Pak) go?

A beverage carton is roughly three-quarters paperboard bonded to polyethylene and, in the ambient ones, a thin aluminium foil layer. Separating those layers needs a hydrapulper set up for it, and there are relatively few such plants, which is why acceptance splits so sharply between authorities. Where cartons are collected, rinse, push the straw inside or take it out as instructed, and flatten. Where they are not collected at the kerb, many household waste centres have a carton bank. Cartons are one of the materials where neighbouring authorities most often disagree, so the local list settles it.

How to prepare it

1. Rinse out the residue and let it drain.
2. Push the cap back on — most schemes now want it left on.
3. Flatten so the load is not mostly air.

What not to do

• Never put a carton with liquid still in it into a paper stream.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to kerbside recycling bin

• Pizza boxes Recyclable if the card is only greasy; not if it is soaked or has food stuck to it. Tear off the clean lid if in doubt.
• Aerosol cans Empty aerosols go in the kerbside recycling in most areas. Never pierce them, never crush them, never bin a part-full one.
• Wrapping paper Plain paper: recycle. Foil, plastic-coated or glittery: general waste. The scrunch test settles it.
• Aluminium foil and foil trays Recyclable if it is clean. Scrunch it into a ball the size of a fist so the sorters can see it.
• Shredded paper Depends entirely on your council. Loose shreds jam sorting lines; where they are accepted it is usually bagged or in food waste.
• Plastic bottle caps Leave the cap on the empty bottle. That is now the standard advice in most places.
• Envelopes with plastic windows Kerbside paper recycling in most areas — modern pulping screens the window out.
• Black plastic food trays Historically rejected because the optical sorter could not see them. Increasingly accepted now — check your council.