Partnering for recycling

Recycling rates for beverage cartons are steadily increasing. But how can we recycle even more, even faster? Everyone along the value chain has a vital role to play so partnership is key

Design for recycling

The quest to recycle beverage cartons begins before they are even made.

Recyclability must be built into the design of packaging from the start. All our packs are designed to be fully recyclable. No exceptions.

This means all the materials that go into each pack can be recycled after use. But how can we make sure that they are actually recycled?

The key lies in partnership. We’re partnering with industry peers, customers, municipalities and communities around the world to promote recycling.

Working together as an industry

We’re not just square, we’re circular. That’s the motto of a new campaign by ACE, the industry Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment in Europe.

It aims to promote recycling and emphasise cartons’ double contribution to circularity. Not only do they enable materials to be used again because they can be recycled after use; they also help to regenerate natural resources because they are made mainly from renewable, forest-based material.

SIG is part of both ACE and GRACE, the newly formed Global Recycling Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment. These industry alliances bring together peers from across the industry to drive recycling efforts in Europe and around the world.

Strengthening infrastructure

The infrastructure for recycling paperboard from used beverage cartons is well established and more facilities are being created to recycle the polymers and aluminium foil too.

ACE member companies, including SIG, have set up EXTR:ACT to help. This platform aims to coordinate and drive solutions to enhance collection, sorting and recycling of beverage cartons throughout Europe. A new plant for recycling polymers and aluminium foil from used beverage cartons is already being built in Germany.

In Brazil, SIG is working with the NGO Recicleiros on an exciting partnership to help cities improve recycling rates. Instead of spending money on fees to dispose of recyclable waste in landfill, they redirect these funds to develop segregated waste collection services. Consumer companies can also invest in these programmes as a way to meet Brazilian regulatory obligations to invest in projects that guarantee the return of a certain amount of consumer waste.

Strengthening infrastructure to collect and recycle used beverage cartons will enable higher recycling rates around the world. But as we saw in Part 1 of this series, consumers also have an essential role to play by making recycling part of their daily routine.

Getting consumers on board

Consumers have a critical role in the recycling chain. They are the ones who make the decision whether to throw away their used packaging with other general waste or separate it for recycling.

SIG is working with partners around the world to promote awareness of recycling by making it more convenient, interesting or rewarding for consumers.

In Indonesia, where national recycling rates are currently very low, we are partnering with Nestlé to launch new collection points for used beverage cartons at two major retailers across the country.

We teamed up with partners in Mexico to install special collection bins for used beverage cartons at an amusement park. The bins are made out of used cartons to show recycling in action, boost collection rates and raise awareness for adults and children.

Teaching children about recycling can help to instil positive behaviours at an early age – and encourage kids to get their families recycling too. Local school activities sponsored by SIG include training teachers, performing plays that include recycling messages, and organising games to sort waste and make useful products out of used cartons.

At SIG’s eco-canteen in Thailand, the children eat their school lunch in a canteen that is made entirely from used beverage cartons – the roof, the walls and even the tables and chairs.

Our innovative SO+MA House programme is bringing additional social benefits by rewarding people for recycling with credits for essential products and services. Find out more about the pilot in Brazil in our next blog post.