The TRUTH about Tetrapak and cartonboard…is it recyclable or not?

Tetrapak, the bane of my existence. It’s become quite the hot material in the eco-space, but why? Is it really that much better? Is is going to save the planet? Let’s dive into all this and more in today’s post all about Tetrapak.

What is Tetrapak?

You probably know about Tetrapak you’ve just never heard its name before. It packages milk, juice, coconut water, heck, even water itself. It’s everywhere these days. But what exactly is it? Well, Tetrapak is just a brand name. It’s like calling a tissue a Kleenex or a bandage a Band-Aid. So, as a brand, according to Wikipedia, “Tetra Pak is a multinational food packaging and processing company headquartered in Switzerland. In 1929, Ruben Rausing and Erik Åkerlund wanted to get ahead of the food packaging game. They knew it was the future of grocery stores allowing for a more hygienic and portioned shopping experience. In 1944, they developed their design for the packaging, and in 1946, the company introduced the first prototype tetrahedron-package filling machine.”

Enough about the history, what is it made of? Well, it’s 70% paper! Sounds great, right? Yes, that is good especially considering Tetrapak has increasingly started to use FSC-certified paper and recycled paper. But, what about the other 30%? Well, that’s plastic and metal. It’s a combined package rendering it very difficult to recycle, which we will get to later.

Here’s what Tetrapak themselves have to say about their packaging materials:

Paperboard: “On average, more than 70 percent of a Tetra Pak carton by weight is paperboard. Although we don't own or manage any forests, we apply our purchasing power to promote sustainable forest management.”

Polymers/Plastic: “Polymers protect against outside moisture and enable the paperboard to stick to the aluminum foil. Plastic is also used to make caps, closures, and straws. In 2011 we launched the industry's first caps made from plant-based polymers while in 2020, we introduced certified recycled polymers in our carton packages, increasing the circularity of our packages.”

Metal: “On the inside of our aseptic cartons, a layer of aluminum eight times thinner than a human hair provides vital protection from oxygen and light, keeping perishable food safe without refrigeration for months. We are continually innovating to make this layer as thin as possible and working towards developing an aseptic package that uses an alternative material for its barrier layer.”

While these materials are necessary for this type of packaging, this packaging is not perfect.

What is cartonboard/aseptic cartons?

Now, let’s move on to the generic name. Why? Well, I had a brand get mad at me once (oops) for using the term “Tetrapak” to describe their packaging when in fact they use “cartonboard.” So, is there a difference? According to IPI SRL, “The structure of multilayer aseptic carton for milk and beverages. In packaging, multilayer aseptic carton refers to thin multilayer structures made by combining layers of paperboard, plastic, and aluminum.”

As you can see, they’re the same. Tetrapak just has a patent on its design. Again, it’s like saying Kleenex for all facial tissues or saying Band-Aid for all generic bandages. They’re all the same make-up, one is just a brand name.

Is it recyclable? Is it accepted for recycling?

So are cartons recyclable? Yes…but it’s another story on if they’re accepted for recycling. In theory, yes, every single material on this earth CAN be recycled. But will it? That’s the question we need to focus on. Brands all too often throw out the phrase “it’s recyclable” willy-nilly. This is greenwashing. Brands KNOW that every single municipality has different recycling rules. They KNOW that not every city, state, or region will accept cartons for recycling. So brands pushing their products on people cause it’s recyclable in theory is just wrong to me.

Check out this website to find out if cartons are accepted curbside in your area or call your local recycling center. Not going to lie, I was shocked testing a few addresses! I tried my high school home, my Las Vegas home, my Washington home, my mom’s current home, and even my childhood home. Only ONE of them doesn’t accept cartons today. This is great news and a step in the right direction.

But, the next important question, how are they even recycled?

How are they recycled?

Well, I can tell you this much, it’s not straightforward or easy since it’s a triple-mixed material. In order for any components to be recycled, they must be cleaned and then separated. I’ll let Recycle More explain it better:

“because of the multiple layers of the several types of materials (i.e.: paper, plastic, and aluminum foil) bound with adhesive, it makes these products difficult to recycle. Many recycling service providers do not have the capacity or the technology to properly sort these materials, or the markets to sell them, which limits the recycling options. For facilities that do accept these types of cartons to be recycled, they will be separated by a certain process called hydropulping at the recycling facility. This process separates the paper layer from the aluminum foil and the outer plastic layers and is then recycled and used for other purposes.”

There’s this other really good study on aseptic cartons that says “Recycling options can be categorized as primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Primary recycling (sometimes referred to as closed-loop recycling) is reprocessing the material back into its original use or comparable products with equivalent quality but is not an option for post-consumer cartons as they cannot be directly converted back into their original use. However, secondary recycling where materials are processed and used in applications not requiring virgin material properties is the most widespread recycling option for aseptic cartons. The paper fibers are separated from the PolyAl (polyethylene & aluminum) and incorporated into paper products; this has been a relatively common process for at least the past 40 years.”

In short, they are usually downcycled into something else rather than go back into the marketplace. Learn more about recycling, downcycling, and upcycling in this video.

What about emissions?

We can talk about how much less plastic is created and how recyclable it is all day long, but we need to also cover emissions. Let’s compare a plastic bottle to a cartonboard.

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), for SIG Combibloc study, says this: "In the 1-L format, carton packs generate 34% less CO2, use 56% fewer fossil resources, and consume 30% less primary energy compared to HDPE multilayer bottles; when compared to disposable PET bottles, these figures are 45% for CO2, 57% for fossil resources, and 36% for primary energy.”

One thing to keep in mind is that cartons are usually around 70% paper meaning they actually sequestered carbon as they grew. Unlike a fully plastic bottle which is 100% pollutive. The reduced amount of plastic in a carton actually does create fewer emissions!

Is it going to save the planet?

No. No single-use material will save the planet. I hate when brands tout this. Is is better than plastic, is some ways, yes. Is it the best material? I doubt it. Especially since our recycling system is VERY broken, we cannot say that single-use, sometimes recyclable packaging is the answer to the waste and/or climate crisis, no matter how good it may seem.

Always opt for reusable when possible and reuse single-use packaging at home, too!

Which material do I like best?

Okay, maybe I recant my original statement. Maybe I do like cartonboard…a little. What I don’t like about it is how brands so easily use it to greenwash. They’re claiming this is the material that will save the world and how perfectly recyclable it is when it is not. No material is perfect. Glass, metal, paper, they’re not perfect either.

I’m not going to lie, I went into this post fully expecting to hate cartons MORE but I actually am leaning towards being a fan.

Will I choose cartonboard over plastic? Perhaps I will now that it’s recyclable in my area and it creates fewer emissions. But, if I move back to that area of WA where they are NOT accepted for recycling, I don’t think I will use them there. It’s pointless to use a “better” material that ends up in the landfill than a “worse” material that will actually be recycled. Will I ever choose cartonboard over paper or metal, though? Probably not.

Stay tuned for next week where I dive into each material: paper, plastic, cartonboard, glass, metal, and bioplastic to determine the ultimate single-use material. Again, not that any single-use is good, but we should rank them.

Thank you so much for reading along, I really appreciate your time. I hope you enjoyed this and found it valuable. If you did, share it with others so that we can all become better consumers, better at spotting greenwashing, and better recyclers.

As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)

Emma