Beijingers being asked to put lid on carton waste

About 90 percent of milk and beverage cartons are ending up in Beijing landfills instead of being recycled, wasting an estimated 157 million yuan in potential savings and burdening the environment with 45,000 tons of extra garbage each year.

According to representatives from Xinhongpeng, the only factory in Beijing capable of reclaiming useful raw materials from dumped beverage cartons, the city generates about 50,000 tons of garbage from cartons each year and only recycles about 5,000 tons of that.

Cartons are made from 75 percent paper pulp, 20 percent aluminum and 5 percent polyethylene. When properly handled, 100 percent of the three materials can be reclaimed and recycled.