Which is better for the environment - milk in a bottle or carton?
14 April 2011

Buying milk in glass bottles is best.

Ideally, buy your milk through a milk delivery service - the bottle can then be reused time and again.

If that's not possible, at least the glass can be recycled. Milk cartons are made of a mixture of cardboard, plastic and a thin layer of aluminium. They can only be recycled in specialist plants - so most cartons end up going to landfill, being incinerated or sent abroad to process.

Plastic bottles are only used once and are made of valuable resources. They're easier to recycle than cartons, but not every council offers a collection.

Buying milk in bottles is the best option.

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