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Why some China primary schools require pupils to return empty milk cartons for their welfare

  • Motivational school carton-return policy seized upon by people who can sell thousands of empty containers a month

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A thriving second-hand market in empty milk cartons has emerged in China after some schools asked their pupils to return the containers. Photo: SCMP composite/Sohu/The Paper
Fran Luin Beijing

A move by some primary schools in China which requires pupils to hand in empty milk cartons has created a thriving second-hand market in the containers.

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People are selling their own empty Tetra Pak milk boxes for around 0.3 yuan (4 US cents) each on China’s second-hand e-commerce platform Xianyu, run by Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.

The behaviour initially sparked curiosity until some parents revealed that the market was created by their children’s primary schools, which require pupils to submit empty milk boxes as homework.

They said the homework was aimed at cultivating an awareness about environmental protection among students.

A primary school in eastern China’s Zhejiang province even set up a competition, giving those who submit the most milk boxes a free tour of a recycling factory.

The emergence of a second-hand milk carton market has seen some people “crazily” drink the beverage. Photo: Shutterstock
The emergence of a second-hand milk carton market has seen some people “crazily” drink the beverage. Photo: Shutterstock

On the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, some people also said they had to “crazily drink milk” to finish their children’s unusual homework.

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