Recycling of Plastic Spouts on Cartons

Our local organic milk company has changed to packaging with a plastic spout and screw cap. How do the recycling people handle that, or can they?

You’d think the packaging manufacturers would have been creative and planet-friendly in their design, but no. Despite green claims from natural product companies such as Silk Soymilk, paper cartons with those embedded plastic spouts are a real pain because yes, the paper is recyclable, but no, the plastic spout and cap system isn’t.

You have to cut out the plastic spout and throw it, along with the screw cap, in the non-recyclable trash! I know this isn’t that easy, but the plastic of these cartons can’t be recycled.

And be careful not to cut yourself when you use the scissors to remove the plastic gizmos! The safest way that I have found to get the embedded plastic spouts off the paper carton is to unfold the package, carefully opening all the seams, rinse it out, flatten it, and then cut away the plastic with scissors.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Heidi A.

8:33PM PDT on May 2, 2012

Very odd article. Talk about micro-focusing.

send a green star

irene f.

6:11PM PDT on May 2, 2012

Thanks for the info! had no idea

Antoinette S.

6:47AM PDT on May 2, 2012

I sorta liked the spouts, however if we really cannot find a way to recycle them....(why not premelt and solidify a whole mass so it doesn't get stuck in any machinery?) then they need to redesign those cartons. I'd agree with the concept of re-washing glass bottles, except, I use mainly soy milk, so not sure how that will work.....also of course, this must be done after proper research to ensure safety standards can be met and consistently applied to prevent contamination.

Danuta W.

12:08AM PDT on May 2, 2012

Thanks for the article.

Michael M.

6:15AM PDT on Apr 20, 2012

apparently those caps and spouts like to jam up machinery so that's probably why they can't be recycled.

It makes me wonder though.
If we increased the size of the caps we used to a certain extent,
perhaps they would be recyclable.

Personally,
I think we should go back to using glass
and back to washing the bottles instead of recycling them like they used to do with milk.

I've heard that it requires a lot less water and nothing has to be melted down so it's better for the environment.
I'd have to see some concrete research on it to be sure that it's actually better,
but if they could wash bottles out back in the day
we could do it now.

Marie W.

9:39PM PDT on Apr 17, 2012

I keep complaining about that. what was wrong with the old type milk carton?

LMj S.

3:50PM PDT on Apr 17, 2012

thank you

Corinne W.

10:50AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

Jennifer E. you would get a GREEN STAR, but apparently I need more contact before qualify to award one. Consider one awarded for your comment : It really HAS to start at the front end - the manufacturing end - of the whole process. We need to get on to manufacturers and ask why they aren't thinking about every aspect of their packaging. And boycott those which don't meet the standards we want.
Thanks!

federico b.

9:46AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

Grazie per i consigli.

9:45AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012