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COMPARISONFOR SCHOOL MILK PROGRAMSOF PAPERBOARD VERSUS PLASTIC BOTTLES

Recyclability

Paperboard Milk Cartons Markets are very limited and few

commercial or institutional recyclersaccept post-consumer paperboard milkcartons for recycling because: Polycoated layers in the milk

carton construction provide barrier

properties to retain milk freshness;however these coatings are adeterrent to recycling and thepulping process used to makenew paperboard products

Residual milk in paperboard cartonsis a contaminant to the recyclingof other mixed paper typicallycollected from schools and othercommercial accounts

Most paper mills cannot handlemore than very small quantities ofmilk carton material, which must be

blended in with other higher qualityfiber sources to meet feedstockrequirements in new paperboardproduction

Milk carton bales typically havevery low market or negative marketpricing when compared to othergrades of recyclable paper officemix, newspaper, magazine, andcardboard

It is estimated that a very small percentof milk cartons are currently being

recycled nationwide due to limitedmarkets and low value Composting is an alternative

to landfill disposal for milkcarton material, wherecomposting programsexist that accept this typeof material

Plastic Milk Bottles Most processors are using

natural (non-pigmented)high density polyethylene(HDPE) resin for themanufacturing of 8 oz.plastic milk bottles. Natural HDPE is the

most recycled plastic resin nationally 27% of all HDPE bottles and 33%

of all HDPE milk bottles are recyclednationally1

Recycled natural HDPE consistentlyhas the highest market value of anypost-consumer plastic and is typicallysecond to post-consumer aluminumcans in value on a per ton basisof all post-consumer recyclablescollected (PET bottles, HDPE bottles,1-7 plastics, aluminum cans, officepaper, newspaper, glass containers,

steel cans, mixed paper) Recycled natural HDPE from milk bottles

is used to make a variety of recycledcontent products; notably includedin this market demand are highvalue and long lasting products childrens playground equipment andcomposite decking

Domestic demand for post-consumernatural HDPE significantly exceeds thecurrent supply. Export markets add tothe demand for natural HDPE bales

Disposal Neither paperboard nor plastic milk containers degrade readily

in modern sanitary landfills

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Plastic milk bottles are by far more readily recycled than paperboard milk cartons, andare increasingly being recovered and recycled in school/institutional recycling programs.There also is an existing infrastructure to processand market school generated HDPE milk bottlesfor most regions of the country where other HDPEcontainers, such as gallon milk bottles, laundrydetergent bottles, etc., are being collected andrecycled (i.e. residential curbside and drop-offprograms). This should be considered in evaluatingthe merits of each packaging choice, especiallyif recycling is occurring in or is planned for theschool district.

1Killinger, Jennifer. Information Sheet. American Chemistry Council.March 2007

Resource Implications of Packaging

Paperboard Milk Cartons Milk cartons are made from virgin

wood pulp, a renewable resource,which is bleached to whiten thefibers. This bleaching process cangenerate water pollutants

Plastic Milk Bottles HDPE milk bottles are largely made

from petroleum and natural gas, as aremost other plastic container packaging.Petroleum is also used for plasticsproduction, including some types ofbottles. Plastic packaging (bottles, film,foam) account for 1.4% of the nationsannual consumption of natural gasand petroleum1

Light weighting of plastic bottles hasreduced resin usage per container by33% for milk containers1

Recycling a ton of plastic bottles savesabout 3.8 barrels of oil1

COMPARISONFOR SCHOOL MILK PROGRAMSOF PAPERBOARD VERSUS PLASTIC BOTTLES

Copyright 2008 National Dairy Council.

For more information visitwww.NutritionExplorations.org