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Each year, 200 million milk and juice cartons are used in England’s primary schools, while secondary school pupils and staff get through more than 35 million. Now, a new initiative launched by Tetra Pak and the carton industry under ACE UK (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) will mean that these paper-based cartons can be recycled.

The initiative, known as the Business & Schools Carton Recycling Service, marks a major step forward in expanding carton recycling further across the UK. While carton collection facilities have recently expanded to over 85% of the UK, so far collections have been limited to domestic collections.

Expanding on their existing infrastructure, Tetra Pak’s new service enables schools and businesses across more than half of the UK (53%) to contact their local carton recycling contractors through a straightforward web portal. Businesses and schools can get a quote, and set up collection.

Fay Dashper, Recycling Operations Manager at Tetra Pak, said: “With many primary schools giving pupils a milk carton every day and companies providing milk for tea, people can now do even more for the environment by recycling their cartons outside their homes. We look forward to seeing more schools and businesses getting involved, and urge every company and school to visit the website, see if their area is covered and start recycling cartons.”