this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024

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Are Tetra Paks actually recycled? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Assuming my municipality accepts it, are they actually being recycled?

I see them being touted as recyclable. However, it seems like it would be difficult and resource-intensive to recycle but I'm not a recycling expert.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Technically they're "downcyclable". The materials can be separated and used for other purposes, but they're not "cycled" back into being another tetrapak.

It's also a very energy intensive procedure so even if it's possible to use some of the materials again, it's by no means as environmentally friendly as products that can be recycled for their purpose. Take for instance glass bottles and aluminium cans, they can both be recycled into glass bottles and aluminium cans.

Some places also reuse glass bottles by cleaning them. This also costs energy, but not as much as grinding it down and heating it to produce new glass.

Aluminium cans are probably the best single use beverage container as of now.

The best one is not to get one in the first place. Reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim.

Tetrapak is in the "reclaim".

Carrying a personal reusable water bottle is a good idea, because it reduces the production of singular use containers.

[–] frosch 16 points 5 months ago

Yeah, iirc TetraPak advertised as being an eco-friendly packaging and was prohibited to do so (at least in some countries, dunno) exactly because of that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I mostly see them used for 1/2-gallon milk and small juice containers in the U.S. I’m in Canada right now and see them being used a lot for large juice containers also. I could see glass used for those (as they were in the past) but with the higher risk of breakage it’s not as ideal, but have a harder time picturing aluminum being used for milk and at least some of the more acidic juices. Does aluminum work with those beverages?

You seem informed on the subject: I’ve recently seen aluminum single-use cups advertised, targeting the same market as red plastic cups commonly seen at picnics. Those plastic cups are rarely recyclable, so I’m assuming the aluminum kind are more eco-friendly assuming they get recycled, even with high energy usage?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Aluminium is fine for acidic beverages and it is possible to buy juice in a can, but that would be a single serving. Juice and milk make sense to buy in larger sizes for multiple servings. Plastic bottles are also an option for those, but it really depends on how they're recycled locally if that makes more sense than the cartons.

The aluminium red solo cups ought to be recyclable just as any other aluminium product, provided that they're returned in the first place and not mixed with other disposable garbage. Selling them as disposable seems counterproductive. A better option would be to use actual cups or glasses for picnics and bring them back home. Washing a cup in a dishwasher is much better than recycling aluminium.

It's not easy for consumers to make a good choice.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

They’re marketed as being recyclable along with the cans that might appear at a picnic. Whether they actually get recycled is another question; I’ve seen more picnic shelters with recycling bins, but certainly not all.

Some buyers in their online reviews said they were washing and reusing the cups instead of recycling them. I don’t know how effective that is but assume it’s fine. They would be a better choice than glass at places like pools where glass is prohibited.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

In places where glass is reused, it's definitely the best option. It's heavier so it has a higher co2 output during transport but glass bottles can be reused up to 50 times, saving co2 in the long run.

But I have to concede, in america aluminum is probably the best option.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

What we really need is an increase in growler culture. I want to be able to bring my own bottle to a shop and have my beer/wine/liquor/soda/whatever dispensed and priced by volume from their keg/cask/dispenser. It was just a thing with beer when I lived in Kentucky and it’s something I wish was more of a thing where I live now. I’m sure it was partly due to their lax alcohol laws, but it was striking to see such an environmentally responsible habit in the heart of coal country

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Look into your municipality's recycling process, see how it's done, what the inputs are, what the total energy use is, etc, etc.

I'd bet a year's salary it's far less effective (if at all) than most people think.

"Recycle" was/is a marketing grift developed by the oil industry in the 70's. It largely isn't effective.

As someone else mentioned, aluminum (and steel) are very recyclable, and are already extensively recycled in manufacturing (don't forget that reusing scrap within a factory is considered recycling).

Everything else largely isn't, yet. Glass is very recyclable, but the transport costs are exorbitant, so I suspect it's a negative for things like drink bottles, while the energy costs on most plastic recycling makes it not yet viable, from what I've read.

Someday, just not today.

If the 3 R's, Reduce is the one that truly makes a difference.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago

Mate, if you don't actually know then don't just make stuff up. Virtually everything you wrote is wrong. (Except if you live in a 3rd world country like america). Massive levels of recycling in Europe. The process is also about reducing waste going to landfill, as well as reducing the need for raw materials.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

At least where I live even the interior lining and lid are now made from cellulose fibers and as such the packaging is (a) fully renewable and (b) the materials can be reused for other paper-esque products.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

"can be" is doing some heavy lifting here. I confidently predict the amount actually recycled is a fraction of one percent

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Making matters worse is that half the statistics that would show the abysmal rate count "thermally recycled" (=burning it) towards the same metric and are thus pretty meaningless.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

In Sweden, where I live, 78.5% of paper packaging put into the market was recycled for materials (as opposed to recycled for energy a.k.a burning it in a power plant)

https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/sverige-i-siffror/miljo/atervinning-av-forpackningar-i-sverige/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Maybe it can be safely burned?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

It depends how. In a proper industrial facility, yes. In your backyard, no.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Not in Southwark, London. Not sure why.