ACE, the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment, has announced that the recycling rate for beverage cartons in the EU rose to 51% in 2019 – representing a continued year-on-year increase.
“We are pleased that the steady annual increase of the recycling rate for beverage cartons in 2019 surpassed 50%,” said Annick Carpentier, director general of ACE. “This is proof of our industry’s efforts and enhances the message that beverage cartons are recyclable and are being recycled at scale in Europe.”
The industry is now calling on policymakers at European and national levels to assure that beverage cartons are collected for recycling separately, and to support a collection target to ensure beverage cartons are collected for recycling.
“With an upcoming EU legislative agenda towards more sustainable packaging, the beverage carton is well positioned with a 51% recycling rate. This is an opportunity to inform policy-makers at all levels that beverage cartons are a safe, circular and sustainable packaging solution with a low carbon footprint, and how the beverage carton you use at your table can be easily collected and recycled,” concluded Carpentier.
ACE members include beverage carton producers Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc and Elopak, as well as Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs, who provide around 98% of the paperboard used by ACE members.
