Recycling and Tetra Paks: soft drinks, soup, and stupidity

RJ Pisko, Comment

Stupidity is not a nice word. It’s not politically correct. It’s not polite. I looked for other words to express my feelings about what I have learned about this topic, but none fit my alliterative subtitle for this piece. Stupidity, according to Wikipedia, is a word indicating a lack of intelligence, care or reason. I use the word “stupid” throughout this article in the spirit of this definition. I believe that the intelligence is there, but not the will to use it. Therefore the word as I use it here means lack of care and/or reason. Please keep this in mind as you read. Let me explain my point . . .

Image source: http://www.northrefundcentre.ca/Non%20colect.htm

We are forever being encouraged to “reduce, re-use, recycle”. I attended a weekend forestry seminar at the University of Calgary’s Barrier Lake facility some years ago, and something a presenter said really made sense to me. “Why”, he asked, “does the word ‘recycle’ come at the end of this phrase - why is “recycle” on the bottom of the list? Because it’s the least important of our efforts to reduce waste and preserve resources and energy.” We seem to put much more time, innovation, and effort into recycling than into reducing and re-using. Stupidity, no? I understand that putting a lot of effort into reducing – as in packaging – would no doubt have an effect on the packaging industry, and that effect would certainly trickle down into the packaging material industries such as forestry and oil. Or that argument might be presented. I’d add a lame argument.

This is specifically about the recycling of Tetra Paks, and how containers are identified as recyclable – specifically containers that require a deposit by law, are refundable, and can be shipped to material recovery processing plants for re-use. This is not stupid. But the recycling regulations are established by recycling boards, and sometimes intent gets lost in translation. A couple of years back, for example, I returned a utility trailer load of brown stubby beer bottles – all clearly labeled as an Alberta brand of beer. – I believe the brand was “BEER”. The label avowed that the beer was brewed in Alberta. I was told they weren’t acceptable for refund, that because they might not have been filled in Alberta, that they may not have required a refundable deposit, and no, I couldn’t recycle them in the ordinary glass recycling bin because they were brown, not clear glass. That was stupid, by definition. 

I took my load of unpopular stubbies back home and researched what Alberta’s Beverage Container Management Board had to say about my stubbies’ eligibility for refundable recycling. The BCMB’s website clearly stated that ALL beverage containers originating in Alberta were eligible as refundable – no expiry dates mentioned (stubbies are pretty old, though.) So, following an interesting and entertaining conversation with a new (young) agent with the BCMB about what their website promised and what I was told at the recycling depot, he called my local recycling facility directly. He called me back shortly, and assured me that my treasure trove would be honored as refundable. Back to the very inconvenienced recycling depot, victorious. Not because of the sixty bucks, but because a trailer load of glass was not in the landfill. The sixty bucks didn’t hurt, though. That wasn’t stupid. 

Image source: http://www.packagingdigest.com/aseptic-packaging/fsc-labeled-tetra-pak-packages-now-adopted-53-countrie

Okay, okay – back to Tetra Paks, sometimes called Tetra Briks in Alberta - only Tetra Pak beverage containers require a deposit and are refundable. Not the broth TP containers, though, which are identical in composition and therefore just as recyclable as the beverage containers. Broth, I have argued with the BCMB, is a beverage because I drink it. No, they said, it’s a food. Then so is orange juice as because it’s even thicker in consistency than a broth, I said. No, they said, broth is definitely not a beverage. “Ever try a Bullshot?” I asked. “What’s that?” they asked. “Vodka over ice with beef broth”, I said. The conversation ended. So it stands today; broth is not considered a beverage by the BCMB. As a result tens of thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of Tetra Paks go to the landfill because they are not considered “beverage containers” by the Beverage Container Management Board.

That’s stupid.

After another recent consultation with BCMB, grocery stores, the local recycling facility, Tetra Pak Corporation, and the Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation, here’s the thing: These agencies are telling me that (paraphrased) “It’s up to the soup companies”. The Soup Company (Campbell’s Canada) says it’s up to the other guys. Here are some replies:

Alberta Beverage Container Management Board:

“Hello Bob, and thank you for your inquiry. I apologize if you did not receive an adequate answer to your question previously, but I will try to help you out as best I can now behalf of beverage manufacturers and, as a result, our area of expertise.

In terms of the refundability of containers for soup/broth, I can tell you that at this time (unlike beverage producers) producers of soup and broth have not implemented a province wide recycling program so there is not a specific system in place for recovering these containers. Also, consumers do not pay an initial deposit when they buy soup/broth and therefore there is no refund to provide. “ In terms of the recycling of tetra-brik, I would encourage you to contact your local municipality or the waste management service accountable for your community to gain an understanding of why those items are not generally accepted for recycling.” 

My comment: A Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak.

What the Grocery Retail Industry says:

We don’t know who makes the soup in our private label containers. And it doesn’t end there (from a conversation with a Sobeys grocery expert).

Campbell’s Canada : (my only soup contact)

Image source: http://www.campbellsoup.ca/en-ca/products/campbells-broths/

Campbell’s wrote that they are in support of recycling the broth containers, and to contact my local recycling facility. But I was told by BCMB that the “soup company” must apply to the BCMB to register their containers as recyclable.

My comment: A Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak.

What a Google search says:

Since the aseptic packages contain different layers of plastic and aluminium in addition to raw paper, they cannot be recycled as "normal" paper waste, but need to go to special recycling units for separation of the different materials. Tetra Pak has operated limited recycling since the mid-1980s, introducing a recycling program for its cartons in Canada as early as 1990.

Tetra Pak Corporation: 

One of the quickest to respond - actually they sent two responses, one of which was the outline of Alberta container recycling policies – more than I got from any Alberta recycling authority. Tetra Pak is of course very supportive of recycling their products, and again it was suggested to contact the local recycling facilities.

Problem: The local recycling facilities aren’t in a position business wise to recycle a refundable container without prior approval or registration or whatever from either the BCMB or the ABCRC. Putting forth a considerable business (financial) effort recycling unregistered containers, for which the recycler cannot recover expenses, is stupid. So, it seems that some pressure must be brought to bear on either of these two agencies – except that the ABCRC hasn’t officially responded to my request for a comment – but maintaining that “it’s up to the government . . .”

So, what’s recyclable and what’s refundable? Recyclables are refundable – but only if marked as refundable , as in “beverages” and dairy “beverage” containers. BUT, identical non-“beverage” containers – OR containers that are not registered in the province (because there was so no deposit paid in Alberta) recyclable but are not recycled because they’re NOT refundable. Except, (but those products from the U.S.A. that are registered with the BCMB are OK) . . . tiresome, no? Stupid, yes?

Non-refundable recyclables like glass jars, cardboard containers, tin cans, plastics (there’s a whole other thing, too – all plastics are not recyclable – like bubble wrap, plastic bags, most Styrofoams – that’s stupid. (Processes are in the works to convert plastic bags to oil. That’s not stupid, should it come to pass.) However – there is NO provision to recycle recyclable but non-refundable Tetra Pak (or Tetra Brik) containers.

That’s stupid. As in lack of care and/or reason.

Image source: http://campaign.tetrapak.com/lifeofapackage/en/recycling/

By the way, 22 kilograms of Tetra Paks can be recycled into a school desk. Other products manufactured from recovered Tetra Pak materials include egg cartons (re-recyclable), plastic flower pots (ditto), toilet tissue (umm – not recyclable), cardboard containers, industrial products and components, and on and on. Like this Brazilian beachfront home made of stone, renewable wood and forest products – and recycled Tetra Paks . . . 

 Photo © Pedro Saito

A Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak is a Tetra Pak . . .