Under attack!

The editor of a sister publication of ours, Food & Drink Technology, recently attended a conference, at which a presentation was given on the likelihood of the cardboard carton eventually taking over the role of the metal can.

As you can imagine, this caused quite some stir in the office and I myself was motivated to leap to the defence of metal packaging immediately.

There has been considerable buzz around the cardboard carton in recent years, but can it ever be a true contender on the shelves of our supermarkets?

Yes, the carton can be transported in greater numbers due to its rectangular shape, and sure it can occupy more shelf space for the same reason, but where it falls down, in my opinion, is its recyclability.

The metal container, as we all know, is infinitely recyclable. The metal is taken to a foundry, melted down and then reused in any number of different applications – simple.

The cardboard carton, however, is slightly more complicated to deal with after its useful life as a container has ended.

Removing the aluminium and polymer layers from the cardboard is a much more involved process than that used in the metal packaging industry. Paper recycling mills use a pulping method to separate the recyclable paper fibres from the plastic and metal elements. The latter are then removed and dealt with separately.

The problem lies in the lack of facilities to recycle these products in relation to metal packaging, which sadly results in a large number of used cartons being sent to landfill – not ideal in today’s sustainability conscious world.

The ease with which metal containers can be recycled and the infrastructure that is in place worldwide to deal with this is worlds apart from the cardboard carton. When was the last time you threw a can into the general waste? I’d wager it was a long time ago. But when you think putting a cardboard container into the paper recycling is doing your bit, many times this packaging will simply be sent to landfill due to the lack of a proper facility to deal with it.

Whilst the cardboard container has many positive aspects from a logistics point of view, in a world where recycling rates are heavily scrutinised, not to mention crucial to the world we live in, I can’t help but think that the can has a far larger part to play in the grand scheme of things.

What’s your opinion?

Leave your comments below.

Richard