🫙 Carton

Carton is a soft film or cardboard pack for milk. Milk is sold in two kinds of packs: soft plastic bags and cartons. A soft bag is made of plastic film. It usually holds about a litre. To pour, you cut off a corner, with the bag standing in a jug. Such bags are common in many countries. Canada introduced them in 1967, and in India about a third of milk is sold in bags.

The carton with a gable “roof” top came earlier. In 1915 the American John Van Wormer patented a folding paper “bottle” with this kind of top. At first the cardboard was coated with wax, later with a thin layer of plastic. This layer keeps the cardboard from getting soggy.

A carton is lighter and cheaper than a glass bottle. It does not have to be returned. But cartons are harder to recycle, and not everywhere accepts them with other plastics.