Win a holiday of a lifetime with Tetra Pak
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Back in June, we told you about Tetra Pak’s ‘How do you squash yours’? competition.
The aim of the competition is to remind people how they can recycle their Tetra Pak cartons in the most eco friendly way possible and there’s still time for you to take part!
By squashing Tetra Pak cartons, it gives everyone the chance to recycle more and means less trucks on the road.
With the average person in the UK using over 50 cartons per year, squashing our Tetra Paks means we can get at least 3 times more cartons in the bins and collection vehicles.
For people with limited space at home, they take up much less room when you squash them before taking them to the recycling bank!
You’ve still got time to enter Tetra Pak’s “how do you squash yours?” competition and it’s worth entering because the first prize is a chance of a lifetime conservation holiday!
We know you’re a mad bunch, so you’re all in with a good chance – Tetra Pak are looking for people to show them the craziest or most imaginative way they squash their cartons.
To enter the competition, make a short video of the most original way to squash a Tetra Pak and upload to You Tube with the tag “How do you squash your Tetra Pak Carton competition”
The closing date is November 1st at midnight and a short list of the top ten entries will be selected by a voting panel of which your favourite Green family is part! After that it’s over to the public to vote for the winner.
The judging panel is made up of
- Richard Hands, Environment Manager, Tetra Pak UK & Ireland
- Lowelle Bryan, WRAP
- Hannah Gainfort, student at St.Josephs Catholic and Anglican High
- and us!
So get squashing and recycling your Tetra pak cartons and be sure to enter this fantastic competition.
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LOL – I’m doing my video this week. I’ve needed to have the kids available so that I don’t look a complete fool (hehe). And if it’s too embarrassing, you must pretend you’ve never ever seen me before okay? Now there’s a point. Am I still allowed to enter if I know a judge? 😉
Hi Mrs Green,
Great to see you on the judging panel for the competition. I am sure many enthusiasts, worldwide, await your decision. No pressure!
Seriously, good contacts with business are key to the trend and can benefit both sides. TetraPak are determined to improve their performance and we should support them wholeheartedly. My disinterest in the package type has been changed to a comparison with single-use PET bottles. TetraPak Juices are likely to become my preferred option now the packs can be easily recycled.
I save all my Tetrapaks to put my rubbish in before it goes in the bin, you can squash a lot of rubbish in a Tetrapak, and they dont break like plastic bags.
What are the Tetrapaks being recycled into?
Back in the 90’s, when I was running the local branch of Friends of the Earth in Jersey, we returned 2000 Tetrapak milk cartons to the car park of the local dairy to highlight the fact that in Germany they had just passed legislation that packaging waste could be returned to the manufacturer, whereas in Jersey, if we did that, we would be littering. They almost prosecuted us! We were campaigning for returnable milk bottles.
After the stunt, we were invited to meet with a representative from Tetrapak who showed us how “environmentally friendly” they were because they had recycled some by making a rather ghastly looking briefcase which no-one in their right mind would actually want…
My point is, just because a self-interested manufacturer greenwashes by claiming their packaging can be be recycled doesn’t necessarily make it a good thing for them to do that, if it slows down or prevents the move to returnable re-usable stuff.
@Nick Palmer: Nick, I appreciate your negative experience of Tetra Paks back in the 90’s, a long time ago really since our Zero Waste trend is a more recent development.
TetraPak will take back the whole package for reprocessing, a cradle to cradle approach, if imperfect. Compare that to other systems eg plastic bottles, where cradle to cradle is absent, with all the negative outcomes. Positive engagement with business is central to our trend and has produced results.
Reusable/returnable systems are vital and like everything else consumers have to drive the process, using their purchasing power. Again finding businesses which support such systems eg Ecover (refillables and unpackaged), Lush (unpackaged soap-based purchases for container), specialist traders eg weigh-houses and local shop, is a central part of our activity. We need to use every option to push the changes forward.
I have a question about Tetra Paks – when they are lined with foil, are they still recyclable? For example, the Zico Coconut milk, with the little bit of foil at the top. Thanks…
@Gudrun: They are recyclable with the company eager to get back all they can to reprocess. Check with your local council collection. If they use commingled they should collect Tetra Paks. Otherwise, special collection facilities may exist locally
The best aspect is that Tetra Pak want the whole empty pack returned, flattened of course! This is excellent from the enthusiasts perspective since Zero Waste is achieved.
@Almost Mrs Average: Hey Mrs A – I can’t wait to see your entry into the competition. It sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun. Interesting question about knowing you; I’ll have to check that out 😉
@John Costigane: Hi John, it’s interesting to see you gradually changing your mind. That’s what I love about getting companies on board to talk openly about what they are doing. I’ve certainly learned a lot with our recent guest postings and there are many more to come. The challenge as consumers is that we don’t know the full picture – providing companies with the opportunity to write here helps educate us all, gains customer support and enables us to make more purchasing decisions based on fact rather than heresay.
@Janet: Hi Janet, that’s a neat idea. As you probably know, we compact our waste each week too, but things like crisp bags can break whereas tetrapaks are more solid. Can you not recycle Tetra Paks in your area? It’s always worth checking out their locator map as recycling areas are increasing all the time 🙂
@Nick Palmer: @Nick Palmer: Hi Nick. ,great comment! Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. Fortunately Tetra Pak are not currently making briefcases to my knowledge! You’re quite right in saying that if we want to close the loop we need to create functional, attractive and eco friendly products as a form of reuse or recycling.
We have a couple of pretty informative articles on the site all about Tetra Pak recycling; the first in June where we invited Jenny Walden, their recycling officer to answer your questions:
http://mzw.wpengine.com/2009/06/recycling-officer-jenny-walden-from-tetrapak-answers-your-recycling-questions/
And a more recent post where she spoke again about their reasons for not offering UK based recycling:
http://mzw.wpengine.com/2009/06/recycling-officer-jenny-walden-from-tetrapak-answers-your-recycling-questions/
If you have further questions, feel free to post them here and I’ll contact her to speak again 🙂
@Gudrun: Welcome to the site, Gudrun; it depends on where you live – are you UK based? If so, John has answered your question for you they ARE recyclable and you might like to check out the links I have given to Nick to read as well.
If you live in another country, then I’m not sure – but someone else might know if you tell us where you are based 🙂