The Core juice bar in Swindon’s Old Town has become Swindon’s first recycling point for all food and drink cartons, such as those made by Tetra Pak, Elopak, and SIG Combibloc.
Until now, Swindonians have been unable to easily recycle food and drink cartons as they are not included in the town’s kerbside collections.
Owner Kris Talikowski, who set up The Core six years ago, said, “We have always been committed to being as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. Through our workshops we encourage people to swap to dairy-free milk, as it is better for your health, however, these healthier products often come in cartons which cannot be easily recycled. We felt there was a disparity between advising people to consume a product which is healthier for your body, yet not helping the environment.”
Kris contacted ACE UK (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) to arrange recycling of the containers, which starts at The Core this week.
“Since we opened up a section of the cafe to launch the ‘Nude Foods’ Zero Waste shop, I have become even more committed to creating solutions for reducing waste and to offer better recycling,” said Kris.
“This seemed like a positive thing to offer the people of Swindon and it won’t cost them anything apart from the time it takes to wash, flatten and bring in the cartons.”
The cartons will be recycled at a facility in West Yorkshire where they are made into coreboard, which is converted into tubes and cores, such as hot chocolate and gravy granule containers.
People wanting to recycle their food and drink cartons, need to:
- Wash out the container with warm water
- Fold or flatten and squash their container up with the lid off
- The lid can then be placed back onto the carton and any straws pushed inside
- Bringing these cartons into The Core when the juice bar is open
The Core is open for container collections Monday to Friday 8am – 3pm and Saturday 8am – 4pm. For more information about carton recycling can be found at ace-uk.co.uk/recycling/how-are-beverage-cartons-recycled.
Pictured above: Kris Talikowski with some of the cartons that you can now recycle at The Core
