“ACE UK welcomes the announcement of the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment (CC2), and what it sets out to achieve: a move away from solely weight-based targets to a more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products.
“The beverage carton industry will continue to drive even greater resource efficiency of its products and higher recycling rates to help meet its customers’ Courtauld commitments. The industry has worked tirelessly, with local authorities to increase recycling rates, with the result that 86% of the UK now has access to carton collection. Furthermore, the industry is making it easier for people to recycle their cartons with nearly a quarter of UK households now having carton collection from the kerbside. We are committed to making recycling easier and urge local and national government to work with us.
“However, most obviously missing from CC2 is any acknowledgement of the role independently-certified renewable materials have to play in a low-carbon economy. Using recycled content makes sense for some materials, but renewable materials have a low impact on the environment and are continually replaced as they are used. Independent certification of both the forests and the industry’s traceability systems demonstrates ACE UK members’ commitment in this vital area.
“We would strongly argue that certified renewable content should be considered alongside recycled content by CC2, and that its omission is an opportunity missed.”
About ACE UK
The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) represents the beverage carton industry in the UK, which supplies cartons for milk, fruit juice and an increasingly wide range of products including pasta sauces and soup.
Formed in 2007, ACE UK’s mission is to promote and contribute to UK environmental policies, activities and legislation in the fields of packaging, waste, recycling and recovery.
Members include beverage carton producers for the UK market: Elopak, SIG Combibloc and Tetra Pak. About 98% of the paperboard used by ACE UK members in beverage cartons in Europe is produced by Stora Enso in Skoghall (Sweden) and Imatra (Finland), and Korsnäs in Gavle (Sweden), who also support ACE UK’s work.
Source: ACE UK
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