People in Wiltshire have recycled more than a million Tetra Pak beverage cartons during the first year of a successful scheme.

Bins were introduced at the county’s ten household recycling centres last July for the drink cartons which are used to hold milk, soup and other food-based liquids. Previously the cartons had been sent to landfill.

In the first year more than 23 tonnes has been recycled which works out at around 1.1 million cartons.

Mr Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for waste and the environment, said: “We are always looking at new services we can offer residents to help them recycle more.

“We looked at how we could introduce a service that would be effective and also financially viable and it was clear that using our household recycling centres was the best answer.

“I am delighted to see that offering to take Tetra Pak cartons has proved very popular and diverted a significant amount of waste that would otherwise be buried in the ground.”

The carton industry estimates that annually in Wiltshire some 23 million cartons will be used – meaning there is still plenty of scope for people to recycle even more.

Cartons which have been washed and squashed by residents are dropped off in the bins and then collected for reprocessing. They provide the raw materials which can be turned into many other products such as paper bags, envelopes, and plasterboard liner.

The cartons have to be collected separately because the waxy material which makes them watertight makes them unsuitable for recycling with cardboard.

The scheme is a joint initiative between Wiltshire Council, Tetra Pak Ltd., Hills Waste Solutions and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE).

Tetra Pak’s recycling operations manager, Fay Dashper, said: “Just two years ago, the UK lagged well behind Europe when it came to carton recycling. But, following significant investments from the carton industry via ACE UK, cartons can now be widely recycled across the UK. We’re urging people to now make the most of the facilities and recycle all their cartons.

“The response to the carton recycling facilities has been great so far, but we want everyone to recycle as efficiently as possible. We were surprised to find out just how much difference squashing cartons could make to increasing the capacity for people to recycle - at least three times more cartons can be included in recycling bins, helping keep trucks off the road."

At present paper mills in the UK cannot cope with the volume of Tetra Pak cartons so they are shipped to Sweden. Trials are ongoing to establish a UK destination but in the meantime Tetra Pak carbon offsets its sea trips.

To encourage people to wash and squash their cartons and to celebrate the success of carton recycling facilities across the UK, Tetra Pak has launched a video competition to search for the most original way to squash their empty cartons. Whether sitting on them, flattening them with a space-hopper or getting the local rugby team to squash them in a scrum, there are lots of ways that people can squash their empty cartons. The ‘How do you squash yours?’ competition sees Tetra Pak challenge recyclers to film their most imaginative ways of flattening their cartons.

The winning entrant - voted for by the public later this year - can choose either a ‘chance of a lifetime’ place on an exciting international environmental adventure - from a wildlife conservation trip in South Africa to volunteering with turtles in Panama - or an Eco TV, 50 DVDs and a supply of wine or smoothies in Tetra Pak cartons.

To enter the ‘How do you squash yours?’ competition or view the amusing videos already created by other entrants, visit www.howdoyousquashyours.co.uk.

For more information on recycling in Wiltshire visit www.recycleforwiltshire.com.