中文On a warm morning in Hohhot, China, at Mengniu Dairy’s Horinger factory, a table full of stationery, household articles and office supplies drew the attention of every visitor who walked past. The objects looked ordinary enough, which was precisely the point: every one of them had been made from used beverage cartons. The display was the centerpiece of a sustainability event marking the fourth China National Ecology Day, and it demonstrated in the most tangible way possible that the packaging loop, from carton to consumer and back again, is beginning to close in China.
The event was a joint production of SIG and Mengniu Dairy, two companies that have been working together on recycling infrastructure for years. SIG said the initiative brings together collection infrastructure and recycling technologies developed through collaboration with partners across the packaging value chain. In practice, that means the cartons collected from consumers are not just sorted and shredded; they are transformed into products with real commercial value, paper-based stationery and household goods that give recyclers an economic reason to keep collecting. That economic engine is what separates working recycling systems from well-intentioned pilot projects.
SIG’s plans extend well beyond a single event. The company said it intends to further integrate technological innovation into its sustainability strategy, with a focus on improving packaging circularity and supporting lower-carbon production systems. It also plans to strengthen its cooperation with Mengniu while working with additional industry stakeholders on recycling infrastructure and the wider use of recycled materials. The mention of lower-carbon production is significant, because beverage cartons are increasingly scrutinized on their full life-cycle footprint, not just their recyclability, and SIG has invested heavily in aseptic filling technology that reduces the energy required to keep milk and juice safe without refrigeration.
SIG’s approach to recycling goes beyond packaging design to include the entire chain of collection, sorting and material recovery. The company is working to improve the recyclability of its carton formats while supporting systems that enable used packs to be collected and processed after consumption. In China, that means cooperating with municipal collection schemes, waste-pickers’ networks and recyclers, an ecosystem that operates very differently from the curbside systems familiar in Europe and North America. The Horinger event was designed in part to show consumers what happens to a carton after it leaves their hands, turning an abstract environmental promise into something they can see, touch and buy.
China is not the only front in SIG’s recycling push. Earlier this year, the company introduced its Recycle for Good program in Vietnam, establishing an education-focused carton collection model in Bac Ninh. The program encourages schools, particularly preschools and primary schools, to participate in the collection of used milk cartons, building recycling habits at an age when they are most easily formed. The model pairs environmental education with practical logistics: schools become collection points, children become advocates, and the cartons enter a recovery chain that converts them into useful products. It is a reminder that recycling systems are as much about behavior as they are about technology.
In South Korea, SIG supplied Seoul Dairy Cooperative with full-barrier aseptic cartons that do not use an aluminum layer. The packaging has been recognized as recyclable under the country’s recyclability grading framework, and Seoul Dairy became the first local company to commercialize products using this type of aluminum-free full-barrier aseptic carton material. The development matters because aluminum is one of the most valuable but also one of the most challenging components of aseptic cartons to recover; removing it simplifies the recycling process while preserving the shelf-life protection that aseptic packaging exists to provide.
SIG is also extending its carton packaging technology into European dairy applications. SalzburgMilch in Austria recently became the first commercial user of SIG’s DomeMini 12 Aseptic filling line, launching milk products in the company’s DomeMini on-the-go carton bottle format. The format, which mimics the convenience of a bottle while remaining a carton, shows how packaging innovation and recycling strategy can reinforce each other: a package that is easier to use and easier to recycle is more likely to be collected and recovered.
What connects these projects is a single insight: recycling is a systems problem. A carton is only recyclable if someone collects it, someone can sort it, someone has a market for the recovered materials, and someone, ultimately, buys the product made from it. SIG’s work with Mengniu, its school programs in Vietnam, its aluminum-free cartons in Korea and its on-the-go formats in Europe all attack different links in that chain. The Horinger event, with its table of stationery and household goods made from old cartons, is the most visible demonstration of the endgame: a circular economy where packaging waste is not waste at all, but raw material for the next useful object.
Source: The Packman, August 19, 2026 — SIG expands carton recycling push with Mengniu
