The Carton Council and Kelly Green Products Announce Fully Commissioned End Market for Cartons

WATERBURY, Conn., November 15, 2023 /3BL/ -The Carton Council and Kelly Green Products announced today that the Kelly Green Products manufacturing facility in Connecticut is now fully operational, recycling food and beverage cartons 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The plant transforms cartons into durable, sustainable building materials, expanding the domestic market for recycled cartons.

Kelly Green Products manufactures Kelly Green Board, a sustainable, high-performance roof and wall cover board made primarily from recycled aseptic and gable top cartons. Using a zero-waste process with a minimal carbon footprint, Kelly Green Board uses every part of the carton, including caps and straws, and is made without water, formaldehyde glues or hazardous chemicals.

“I am incredibly proud of the work that has gone into making this facility a reality,” said Tom Kelly, president of Kelly Green Products. “Made mainly of paper with thin layers of aluminum and polyethylene, cartons provide the ideal combination of materials to create strong, hail- and moisture-resistant building supplies. Each truckload of Kelly Green Board diverts approximately 30,000 pounds of cartons from landfills, allowing them to live on as roofing or wallboard for years to come.”

The Carton Council provided Kelly Green Products with an infrastructure grant to help establish this new domestic end market for food and beverage cartons.

“Celebrating America Recycles Day by announcing the newest U.S. carton recycling end market becoming fully operational is an exciting milestone for carton recycling,” said Jason Pelz, vice president of recycling projects for the Carton Council. “Providing infrastructure grants to further end market development is a critical part of the Catron Council’s work to increasing food and beverage carton recycling across the country.”

Who Can Benefit?
Kelly Green Products is actively sourcing bales of Grade #52 cartons from materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in the New England and Mid-Atlantic region and is exploring parts of eastern Canada.

This provides another domestic end market for cartons when sorted by themselves into Grade #52 bales, which can benefit all MRFs and communities:

• If your MRF/community already accepts cartons into the recycling stream but does not sort them into Grade #52 bales, Kelly Green Board creates an opportunity for MRFs to maximize the value of those cartons and utilize a new source of revenue.
• If your MRF/community does not already accept cartons as part of the recycling stream, this provides an opportunity to start, therefore taking another package out of landfills and contributing to the circular economy.

“We are encouraged by the developments at Kelly Green Products,” said Jimmy Lawler, vice president of commodities, Balcones Recycling. “The more options we have for our bales of food and beverage cartons, the better. This regional end market is great motivation – for us and for other MRFs here in the Northeast – to increase the number of cartons we capture and sort.”

The Carton Council can help community recycling programs and MRFs leverage this end market, whether they already accept food and beverage cartons but don’t sort them; already accept and sort cartons; or don’t yet accept cartons. This includes sharing expertise and best practices on sorting cartons, providing equipment grants to MRFs to facilitate sorting, offering resources for educating residents that cartons should be recycled, and assistance to start or enhance school recycling programs to maximize the number of cartons collected within a community. To learn more, visit RecycleCartons.com.

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About Kelly Green Products
Kelly Green Products makes building materials from 100% recycled food and beverage cartons. Using a zero-waste and zero-water-process with a miniature carbon footprint. Food cartons and plastic bags are heat-pressed into construction boards replacing plywood, OSB, and Gypsum Boards. No formaldehyde glues, water or hazardous chemicals are used, which differs vastly from the traditional manufacturing methods of the construction board materials we replace. Kelly Green Products utilizes all of the carton, turning them into durable, moisture-and-mold resistant composite panels that create roofing coverboard and wall board.

About the Carton Council
The Carton Council is composed of four leading carton manufacturers, Elopak, Pactiv Evergreen, SIG, and Tetra Pak. Formed in 2009, the Carton Council works to deliver long-term collaborative solutions to divert valuable cartons from the landfill. Through a united effort, the Carton Council is committed to building a sustainable infrastructure for carton recycling nationwide and works toward their continual goal of adding access to carton recycling throughout the U.S.

About Food and Beverage Cartons
Food and beverage cartons are fiber-based packages that contain some of the highest quality fiber available in the recycling steam. There are two types of cartons: aseptic and gable top. Aseptic cartons are shelf-stable and are often used to store products like broth, soups, juices or milk for long periods without the need for preservatives or refrigeration. Gable top cartons require refrigeration and are often considered the traditional milk carton.