South Hams District Council has announced an end to the frustration of being unable to recycle coated food and drink cartons.

From now on, residents across the district can recycle the cartons in their blue sacks.

The news will be welcomed by many who until now, could only take this kind of packaging to recycling banks and recycling centres.

SHDC operational manager for waste Neil Greenhalgh said: “We have listened to residents, reviewed suggestions, and made changes based on this feedback.

“This is a major milestone for recycling in the South Hams. Residents already recycle a lot of cartons at recycling banks and this will enable residents to recycle at home as well.

“Recycling coated cartons takes just two easy steps. First, rinse and squash the carton, then pop it straight into the blue sack. Caps can be left on, because these are removed during the recycling process.”

In the UK, cartons are used for food and drink packaging and on average UK residents use 57,000 tonnes of cartons a year, roughly 2.4kg per household.

Cartons, such as Tetra Pak, are mainly made from wood fibre, which is a natural renewable resource. They are a low carbon packaging choice comprised of 75 per cent paperboard, 20 per cent plastic and 5 per cent aluminium, and they are 100 per cent recyclable.

Cartons collected go to the carton recycling plant in Halifax. The process takes advantage of the strength and quality of the wood fibres found in cartons by turning them into industrial-strength cardboard. This is then made into 100 per cent recycled tubes and cores, which are used as centres for wrapping products such as cabling, plastic film and wrapping paper.