New Delhi, Aug14: Beverage cartons can be collected and recycled at scale in India, with an established and expanding ecosystem spanning collection networks, recyclers, paper mills, full-carton recycling facilities and end-market applications, industry leaders said at a webinar organised by the Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons on Thursday.
Titled ‘Unpacking Beverage Cartons: Separating Myth from On-ground Reality’, the webinar brought together stakeholders across the beverage carton value chain to examine perceptions around carton composition, recyclability, collection, recycling rates, EPR and recycled content. The discussion also marked the release of the white paper ‘Beverage Cartons in India: Advancing Food Safety, Sustainability, and Circularity’.
Opening the discussion, Cassio Simoes, Chairman, AARC and Managing Director, Tetra Pak India, said,
“Beverage cartons are often perceived as difficult to recycle because of their multi-material structure. In reality, they are predominantly paperboard-based, with approximately 70–75% paperboard fibre, alongside polymer and aluminium layers, and established recycling routes already exist for these materials. TERI’s national extrapolation puts India’s beverage carton recycling rate at 48%, up from 29% in 2011 and 45% in 2022. With around 21 billion beverage cartons consumed annually in India, and this volume expected to double by 2030, the priority now must be to strengthen collection, segregation and recycling systems so that more of this material is recovered and put back into productive use.”
The webinar highlighted that beverage cartons are fundamentally different from conventional multilayer plastics, with their paper-dominant composition enabling established paper-recycling pathways, while polymer and aluminium components can also be recovered through dedicated technologies. The waste trade already assigns economic value to cartons, with collectors, kabadiwalas, aggregators and recyclers handling them through established channels.
The 48% national recycling rate is based on TERI’s latest assessment of beverage carton flows across 24 cities. The study estimated recycling rates of approximately 60–66% across the cities assessed, translating to a 48% national rate through extrapolation. Only around 5–6% of used beverage cartons in the cities studied were estimated to reach landfill, indicating significant diversion into collection and recycling pathways.
The discussion also brought out the role of beverage cartons beyond recycling, particularly in food safety, preservation and resource efficiency. Narayanan Renganathan, Vice President and Head of Procurement, Dabur, said,
“A beverage carton is much more than a package. It is designed to protect food, reduce spoilage and keep products safe and fresh for months without refrigeration. By combining paperboard with thin layers of aluminium and polymers, the format can help reduce dependence on refrigeration and the food waste associated with spoilage. Sustainability does not end when the consumer finishes the product — the paper fibres, polymers and aluminium can all be recovered and converted into new products. The opportunity now is to accelerate this transition through collaboration across the value chain.”
The webinar then examined whether Extended Producer Responsibility is translating into tangible material recovery. Panellists highlighted the need to strengthen segregation infrastructure, improve collection practices and ensure that EPR mechanisms recognise actual recycling across different technology and material-recovery pathways.
Reflecting on the next phase of EPR implementation, Shri G. Thirumurthy, Scientist F, Central Pollution Control Board, said,
“The scale of EPR implementation has increased significantly, but effective plastic waste management ultimately depends on what happens across the entire chain — from collection and segregation to transportation, recycling and end-of-life management. The next priority is to strengthen infrastructure, improve segregation and establish clear technical and operational mechanisms that translate policy objectives into measurable outcomes on the ground.”
Thirumurthy noted that EPR targets across plastic packaging categories increased from approximately 27.22 lakh tonnes in 2022–23 to around 80 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, while the Category III target increased from approximately 3.6 lakh tonnes to 9.04 lakh tonnes over the same period. CPCB is also examining mechanisms through which paper and paperboard recycling can receive appropriate recognition within the EPR framework, including the fibre component recovered from beverage cartons.
The discussion also examined the growing availability of recycled-content infrastructure, including recycled polymers for food-grade applications, as well as the role of certification and mass-balance systems. Panellists emphasised that stronger segregation, collection infrastructure, end-market demand and coordination across waste collectors, recyclers, brands, policymakers and local bodies will be critical to scaling the ecosystem.
The webinar concluded with a focus on moving the conversation around beverage cartons from perception to evidence and from evidence to action, while strengthening the systems needed to build a more efficient and self-sustaining circular economy for beverage cartons in India.