Used Beverage Carton Recycling in India
Ever wondered what happens to your beverage carton after you crumple and throw it in the bin?
Every day over 30 million beverage cartons are consumed in India. Further, the aseptic liquid packaging industry in India is growing at a rate of 17-18% per annum and is expected to double within the next five years to roughly 20 billion packs per annum. As a result, it is critically important for the industry to collectively take up the responsibility of ensuring collection and recycling of used cartons.
The TERI 2019 Used Beverage Carton Management Study for Indian Cities reveals a total recycling rate of over 54% of used beverage cartons, including formal and informal collection systems, across 20 cities in which recycling programs were implemented.
Furthering its commitment towards a greener future and set its own benchmarks for recycling in the industry, SIG India operates three recycling projects in India. These projects have enabled SIG India to work with their customers to reduce the carbon footprint of their beverage cartons. SIG India currently partners with certified recyclers and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) like Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) to carry out the waste collection and recycling in various states in India.
Collection and Recycling Projects in multiple geographies
Partnering with paper products recycler Sylvan Greens, SIG has been annually recycling over 300 tonnes of used beverage cartons since 2020 in Himachal Pradesh. Focusing on priority urban local bodies, IPCA has helped facilitate the collection and segregation of used cartons from households, factories, and public places, which was then baled and sent to the recycler. While phase 1 included collection from districts like Shimla, Mandi, Solan, Kangra, Hamirpur, and Kullu, phase 2 expanded to cover more districts.
Launched in October 2020, the recycling project in Gujarat has collected and recycled over 250 tonnes of cartons, working with multiple collection and recycling partners. The bulk of the recycling has been facilitated by Century Pulp and Paper.
SIG’s latest project was launched in July 2021 in Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with IPCA and recycling through New Bonanza India, a manufacturer of converted paper products. The project has grown rapidly and has already collected and recycled over 200 tonnes of used cartons.
The recycling process, explained:
Waste management in India is a multi-step labor-intensive process, involving door to door collection from households, markets, hotels, institutes, and more, by independent waste collectors. The collection is then followed by segregation into compact bales of dry waste, often using Near InfraRed (NIR) technology that identifies and sorts different types of waste based on the way they reflect light. Once segregated and baled, the used carton waste is then transported to the recycling facility.
Beverage cartons have 3 major components – paper (roughly 75%), PE (21%) and Aluminum (4%). In India currently, used cartons can be recycled either at a composite material recycling facility or at a paper recycling plant.
At composite material recycling plants, the used cartons are cleaned, dried, shredded and then heat compressed, to create strong and durable chipboards that can be used for various applications including building materials, furniture, and other industrial applications. These boards are completely waterproof, easy to cut using standard woodworking tools and machinery, and do not rot, crack, warp, or splinter. They also do not have knots in them like regular wood, and are resistant to mild chemicals, oil, gasoline, pathogens, and all kinds of water. In addition, they are denser than wood and possess high compression strength, making them not only sustainable but also highly cost-effective. .
At paper recycling facilities, the used cartons are pulped, and the valuable virgin paper pulp is separated and recycled to create craft paper, used to make cardboard boxes, trays, egg cartons, envelopes, and more. The residual PolyAluminium is either converted to granules or pellets that can be used for industrial application or is converted to energy via incineration.
So, coming back to your used beverage carton, you could probably be seeing it soon as a recycled paper shopping bag or even as a bench in your local Municipal park. So, go ahead and ensure that you segregate your wet and dry waste, so we can do our bit, and recycle your used carton. Happy recycling!