Wisconsin ranks third in support for recycling, yet many are not aware that cartons should be recycled

According to a recent survey, Wisconsin ranks third in terms of being supportive of recycling, with almost 80 percent of residents reporting that they recycle. However, not all residents know that they can recycle their food and beverage cartons despite having a local connection to the cause.

Once food and beverage cartons have been sorted at a sorting facility, they are sent to pulp mills like Sustana’s mill, Fox River Fiber, located in De Pere, WI. Sustana is a pulp mill equipped to separate the different materials cartons are made of, and the extracted fiber is turned into pulp that is used to produce a variety of paper-based products.

“Here at Sustana, we are proud to convert recycled carton fiber that will be leveraged in a broad range of our products—tissue, printing and writing paper, and food packaging,” said Jay Hunsberger, VP of Sales and Marketing at Sustana. “Sustana employs 100 people from the community, demonstrating a sustainable manufacturing process that contributes a positive impact in the local area. By partnering with municipalities and being part of this supply chain, we contribute to the longevity of our community sustainability and preventing waste to landfill.”

To help raise awareness of food and beverage carton recycling in Wisconsin, we just launched a new consumer education campaign. Beginning now through the end of the year, residents in Appleton, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha will begin seeing materials on social media with more information about carton recycling.

To further demonstrate the state’s commitment to recycling, the Associated Recyclers of Wisconsin (AROW) has a statewide program called Recycle More Wisconsin that aims to educate residents about all recycling in the state. AROW has long been a supporter of our mission to increase awareness of carton recycling.

“With this campaign, we are hoping to reinforce that residents should do all they can to recycle their food and beverage cartons because they truly are needed and have a local impact,” said Jason Pelz, our Vice President of recycling projects. “While 79 percent of residents report they recycle materials like aluminum cans, paper and plastic bottles, that number drops to 68 percent for food and beverage cartons, showing there is room for improvement.”

Learn more by checking out this blog post by Sustana. This was originally posted as a press release on our Carton Opportunities website.

Photo credit: Sustana Fibers