Containers with metal ends such as Pringles tubes, hot chocolate, nuts and other products can now be recycled in Dorset.

Dorset Council has launched the new service enabling these containers to be recycled alongside food and drink cartons at existing specialist recycling banks located at household recycling centres and in car parks The new service is the result of an agreement between the Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (ACE UK), which operates the dedicated food and drink carton recycling service available in Dorset, and packaging manufacturer Sonoco Consumer Products Europe.

Councillor Jill Haynes, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services, said: “Paper containers with metal ends such as Pringles tubes cannot be recycled through our kerbside waste collections, so we were keen to take this opportunity to include them in our recycling banks at HRCs and in car parks. The residents of Dorset have always responded well to the different recycling schemes we’ve implemented, and we hope that they will take full advantage of this new service.”

The service is not available at Wimborne HRC.

Richard Hands, CEO of ACE UK, said: “We have been successfully running the industry’s recycling programme for the last 15 years, driving significant increases in carton recycling as part of its role as the UK’s food and drink carton industry trade body. We have worked closely with local authorities and waste management companies so that today 93% of local authorities collect food and drink cartons for recycling through either recycling banks or kerbside collection.

“Whilst our primary focus remains on increasing carton recycling, our Bring Bank network and the expertise and experience we have developed will deliver an immediate solution for Sonoco Europe’s paper containers with metal ends, helping to create a step change in recycling for these products.”

Helen Potter, sustainability commercial lead for Kellogg’s owned Pringles, said: “We know that people want to recycle their Pringles tubes. Including a solution for Pringles in the recycling banks scheme will allow our consumers to return them to be recycled into something new and is an important interim solution as we work towards the development of our new tube."