Shortlisted Projects

Bruk

An easily recyclable carton for drinks

Designed by Eric Smith, Pushan Panda

About the project.
Paper cartons for milk or juice are surprisingly difficult to recycle. They are made using paper laminated between two thin layers of plastic. In order to recycle them, the paper and plastic must be separated which requires a special process that is expensive and not widely available. In the USA, only 16% of cartons are recycled and only 49% are recycled in the EU. Only the paper is recycled; the plastic layers are usually wasted. The paper cannot go into another carton and is downcycled.

Bruk is designed to address the issues with recycling paper beverage cartons. Consumers simply tear along the perforations, releasing the HDPE liner to recycle it separately from the bio-based cardboard. We designed Bruk to be intuitive, inclusive, fun, and easy for everyone. It is as easy as the regular beverage carton and can be completely recycled back into a carton with mainstream recycling equipment.

The Designers.
Eric Smith
Pushan Panda

BraunPrize Shortlisted Project Bruk - An easily recyclable carton for drinks
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