Tetra Pak releases 2023 sustainability report

Sweeden-based packaging developer Tetra Pak has issued its 25th sustainability report, which tracks the progress of the company’s sustainability agenda for the 2023 fiscal year. The report focuses on five interdependent areas, including food systems, circularity, climate, nature and social sustainability.

Notably, the company says its report shows a 20 percent reduction in value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 47 percent reduction in GHG emissions across its own operations since 2019. The latter puts Tetra Pak on track to meet its target of net-zero GHG emissions in its own operations by 2030, it says, and supports its long-term ambition to work with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2050.

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Tetra Pak points to another major milestone in the report: the launch of an aseptic beverage carton featuring a paper-based barrier, reducing its carbon footprint by one-third and bringing the company a step closer to developing what it claims is the world’s most sustainable food package. Tetra Pak says this item was the result of a 100-million-euro ($108.6 million) investment in packaging research and development in 2023, with the same investment planned annually for the next 5-10 years.

“Collaboration across the food industry is ever more important to feed a growing population sustainably,” says Tetra Pak President and CEO Adolfo Orive. “Our global presence and end-to-end solutions give us opportunities every day to collaborate with stakeholders across the value chain, from farmers and food producers to suppliers, policymakers, consumers and others. We understand the responsibility that comes with this role. We remain committed to playing our part to transform the world’s food systems, to ensure they are more secure, resilient and sustainable.”

The company’s sustainability report highlights additional achievements from the 2023 fiscal year, as well as its ongoing initiatives, including:

• Expanding school feeding programs by helping 64 million children in 49 countries get access to milk and other nutritious beverages through such programs;
• Accelerating recycling, increasing the volume of carton packages collected and sent for recycling across the world by 7 percent compared with 2022. Additionally, the report claims a 14 percent increase in recycling of the layers of polyethylene and aluminum in carton packaging, or polyAl.
• Getting recognition for leadership in corporate transparency and performance for the eighth consecutive year with its inclusion in the CDP Forests “A List.” Additionally, the company received an A-minus rating in water security, despite it being the first year of reporting in this area.
• Actively implementing the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The full report can be found here.