Speicher said:
According to Envirosort there is a tetrapack recycling plant in Sweden. IIRC there is also one in Hereford.
I would be the first to admit that sorting recycling properly takes time, and not everyone has that time.
Long story short I sometimes take in "recycling" from a local village hall. I can see what Arch means about some people's idea of recyling - very messy.
I'm glad if there are more plants - there was one in Scotland, you could post flattened packs to them, but it closed.
I slightly disagree about the time to sort. The trick it to do it instantly. Use a tin of beans? Rinse it straight away, and put it in the right box (or bag within the box. It becomes a chore when you put a load of stuff together and then have to re-sort it. I know I have an advantage being on my own, and not having to walk far from my kitchen to my hall, but it's not really difficult, if you just think about it a bit. The trouble is that for too long, no one has had to think about their rubbish, it just disappears like magic.
We don't mind the sorting so much, although it's more efficient if stuff is presorted for us, and put into separate open bags. What is a pain is when people put out a box, full of bags, each knotted and containing a mixture of stuff. Try unknotting a plastic bag with industrial gloves on, and then pulling out the (probably wet) contents one at a time...
The council have wagons that everything just gets chucked in, for someone to sort later on a conveyor - perhaps more efficient at the kerbside, but more work at a later stage...