This is the name for packaging used for longlife product including the square boxes used for liquids (eg juice cartons). The most common brands are Tetra Pak and Elopak. These can be made from complex layers of plastic, metal and paper. The actual recycling process is expensive at the moment, so it's only available in a very few places. M&S has worked with Tetra Pak to increase the number of collection points for this type of material.
These kinds of plastics are made from natural plant materials. In the right conditions - professionally-run industrial composting facilities, which are limited in the UK - they degrade naturally and will eventually disappear by breaking down into water, biomass and carbon dioxide.
These also degrade naturally, but differ from biodegradable plastics in that, according to European and international standards, compostable plastics must fully degrade within 55 days of being put in a controlled environment as found in industrial composting. Items such as egg boxes and the pulp used in our range of apples and stone fruit can compost in your home compost but the length of time depends on the time of year, the outside temperature and other materials you are composting.
CPET plastic is a form of PET plastic that can go into a microwave or conventional oven and withstand traditional cooking temperatures. It's used for ready meal packaging and offers added convenience, as the food can be placed straight in the oven without the need to decant into separate cookware.
These are sometimes known as oxo-degradable plastics, because they only degrade by breaking up into smaller pieces when exposed to specific environmental conditions. M&S is not intending to use these.
We recently teamed up with our partner 'Closed Loop Recycling'...
