From carton to paper

The most common way to recycle used beverage cartons is through recovery of the fibre at paper recycling mills.  Recycling mills take paper and cartons and put them into a large vat of water, where they are swirled around.  The swirling action rubs the fibres apart, helping the paper "dissolve" faster.  The fibres absorb water and become part of a great slurry of watery fibre.  Any non-paper elements (such as plastic) will either float or sink and can be picked, scraped or sieved off.  This process usually requires about 15-30 minutes and will recover most of the fibre.

The recovered fibres can now be used to make printing paper, paper bags, tissue paper, liner board for corrugated boxes, etc.