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The Food and Beverage Carton Recycling Scheme (FBCRS) is the latest voluntary product stewardship programme operated by The Packaging Forum. It was launched in January 2024 by the Forum and is 100% funded by members and provides sustainable, end of life solutions for food and beverage cartons.

The Food and Beverage Carton recycling scheme is a voluntary, member-funded product stewardship scheme run by The Packaging Forum. The aim of the scheme is to keep as many food and beverage cartons out of landfill, and for them to be recycled into new products – such as building supplies, right here in New Zealand.

This new Scheme is another real example of how industry can voluntarily collaborate and succeed in its responsibility to deal with the end-of-life recovery for packaging. What started life as a UHT milk carton (for example), could end up as a sheet of building material; and, as processing and recycling technology continues to develop, who knows what next for that food and beverage carton.

Members pay for the collection and recycling of the food and beverage cartons by scheme processing partners. Currently processing and recycling partner, saveBOARD, is turning food and beverage cartons into affordable, sustainable, low carbon building supplies at its operating plant in Hamilton. As the Scheme grows we will welcome more recycling partners, and we look forward to more organisations becoming a scheme partner. Find out how to become a Scheme processing partner here