THE Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) has launched its new white paper in the House of Commons, designed to drive a more effective recycling system for liquid cartons.
The paper, Getting Liquid Carton Recycling Sorted: From collection to sorting and reprocessing – how Extended Producer Responsibility can drive a more effective recycling system for liquid cartons, was unveiled during an event at the Palace of Westminster.
MPs including Fleur Anderson, chair of the APPG on the environment, and Euan Stainbank of the APPG on climate change led the meeting. They joined industry experts, waste management leaders and local authorities to take part in a panel discussion addressing how packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) fees can be used to drive positive change. The MPs were joined on the panel by Ben Powell, head of external affairs at ACE UK and Awantika Chadha, sustainability manager at Tetra Pak.
Mr Powell said, “The UK’s progress in collecting liquid cartons is one of the quiet success stories of modern recycling policy. As of August 2026, 90% of UK local authorities are collecting cartons at the kerbside but this is only the first step. Too many cartons are not recycled effectively despite established reprocessing routes. pEPR has the potential to change this, by ensuring fees paid by producers are used to bring about a step change in sorting, driving vastly improved recycling outcomes.”
The white paper outlines ACE UK’s three core asks of government in all four nations of the UK:
- Ensure pEPR fees are spent on better sorting and recycling – PackUK should establish a transparent mechanism requiring pEPR fees to be invested in the collection, sorting and reprocessing activities for which they are intended. Where higher fees are levied, those funds should demonstrably support local authorities and waste management operators in delivering improved sorting performance and directing materials to dedicated recycling facilities.
- Finish the job on consistent collections – 9 in 10 local authorities now collect cartons at the kerbside – However, we must ensure that the remaining councils introduce collections as soon as possible. How cartons are collected matters too. England, Scotland and Wales recommend collecting cartons alongside plastic and metal containers and away from paper and card to deliver improved sorting outcomes.
- Make certain that materials collected for recycling are recycled – Establish a legal requirement that materials mandated for household collection are demonstrably sorted into appropriate material streams and directed to dedicated recycling facilities wherever appropriate. Materials must not be blended into other material streams, sent for energy recovery or landfill.
In the white paper, ACE UK sets out a roadmap for a recycling system the UK should aspire to by 2030. This includes consistent sorting of collected material, EPR funding transparently linked to investment in infrastructure, local authority performance assessed by collection rates and recycling outcomes and supporting increased domestic reprocessing with greater volumes of high-quality material.
