One of the most frequently asked questions regarding waste separation was the question of where to throw the milk carton.

Why are we so often asked where to throw away the milk carton? Because it belongs to the garbage that is not completely self-evident. This is a multi-material package, and separating such packages still presents many difficulties.

Milk carton: where to throw it away?

One of the wastes that cause problems for Slovaks when sorting waste is milk cartons. Many of us do not know where to throw multi-material packaging. The inconspicuous nature of waste usually contributes to the dilemma of choosing the right garbage container. Our doubts are raised by food packaging, medicine blisters or milk cartons. The first association with the name “milk carton” is that such packaging is classified as cardboard packaging and is thrown away with other cardboard waste in the paper fraction.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Although milk packaging is actually almost 75 percent paper, we simply cannot classify it as paper waste. The fact that the milk carton is classified as waste made of metal and plastic is also responsible for the inner coating of the foil and polyethylene packaging, which prevents the milk carton from leaking and at the same time preserves the suitability of the product for consumption.

Milk carton: which container to put it in?

One of the wastes that causes us problems when sorting is the milk carton. In which container do we put this type of multi-material packaging?

  • Although paper makes up the majority of milk cartons, the polyethylene and foil inner lining makes milk cartons a suitable container for collecting metals and plastics.

Why is it so important that the used milk carton goes into this particular container?

Because that’s the only way we’ll enable proper recycling of the waste we produce. Multi-material packaging most often ends up in mixed waste bins. This makes it very difficult for sorting lines to assign them correctly, and only a small proportion of the liquid food cartons thrown by unwitting residents into the mixed fraction end up being recycled.

The recycling of milk cartons is a very complicated process, but given that separating the layers that make up the packaging is very difficult, but possible and profitable. Therefore, we should throw away milk cartons and other liquid foods only in containers that collect metals, plastics and other plastics.

Where to throw away milk cartons?

When thinking about where to throw the milk packaging, it is worth knowing what the packaging is made of and how the raw materials from the used packaging are recovered. In the case of milk in a glass or plastic bottle, we usually have no dilemmas as to where to go with the packaging. However, milk cartons are more debatable.

It is worth knowing that raw materials from used milk cartons can be obtained in different ways, most often by breaking the carton into layers. The top layer of the milk carton is a cardboard coated with laminate – after pulping, paper fibers are obtained from it, and the raw material obtained in this way can be used for the production of other paper products. The inner layer of the milk packaging is made of polyethylene and aluminum coating.

  • After recycling, these raw materials are used in metallurgy, the energy industry and for the production of garden furniture.
  • It is also worth knowing that milk cartons can be used to make boards that can be used, for example, in the furniture industry.

The milk carton can also be used in the so-called upcycling. His idea is to give old (even worn) objects a new life and at the same time change their original function. You can create practical decorations for your apartment or garden from milk cartons. With the use of our imagination, scissors and a few arbitrarily chosen materials, it allows us, among other things, to create from a milk carton:

  • container for pens and crayons
  • a flower pot or temporary vase
  • decorations for the children’s room
  • bird feeder.

So, if you are still wondering whether a plastic and metal container is suitable for a milk carton, consider using it for upcycling.

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