Zero impact packaging: an achievable goal

To reason in terms of sustainability today, one cannot do without a broader reflection, capable of including – in addition to the environmental dimension – also the social and economic dimensions. An even more evident relationship when we think of the sustainability of the products we consume on a daily basis, such as food and drink, and in which the individual players in the supply chain – from production to packaging to distribution – each play a fundamental role in guaranteeing quality and availability with the least impact environmental. We talked about this with Paul Maggi, President Tetra Pak South Europe. In our country, Tetra Pak – a Swedish company present in Italy since 1965 – supplies annually 5.2 billion packages for food and beverages which reach approx 60 million consumers and supports more than 120 companies in the agri-food and distribution sectors.

President Maggi what are your sustainability goals? What is Tetra Pak investing in specifically?

Speaking of objectives in terms of sustainability, we can think about two perspectives: our ambition for the near future – to simplify the structure of the materials that make up our beverage cartons, increasing the share of paper, eliminating aluminum and reducing virgin plastic of fossil origin – and our daily ambition, which sees us engaged with our partners and customers along the agri-food chain to provide even more innovative packaging solutions, always able to protect the quality of the content and guarantee its availability in the most sustainable as possible. The years of the pandemic have clearly demonstrated just this: the ability to reach even the furthest consumers from the points of sale with healthy and nutritious food has been an essential factor for the social stability and resilience of the agri-food sector. On these guidelines, on a global level, Tetra Pak is investing and will continue to invest in the next few years 100 million euros a year.

Our sector, the beverage carton industry, plays a key role in the food chain, which in turn is also central to the Italian economy: in fact, it is impossible to imagine safe, efficient and resilient food systems without having treatment and packaging solutions capable of guaranteeing high standards of food preservation. Just think, to cite an emblematic example, of the aseptic technology which Tetra Pak was the first to introduce and which allows you to keep food safe and nutritious for an extended time, without refrigeration or preservatives. The need to protect the quality of the product must then obviously be combined with tangible benefits in terms of environmental sustainability and, also in this case, thinking in terms of the supply chain, the life cycle of the packaging and therefore circularity represents, in our opinion, the winning approach, the way forward. In this respect, Tetra Pak aims to achieve the zero net CO emissions₂ by 2030 for its operations and to achieve the same goal along the value chain by 2050.

What are the results on the recycling of beverage cartons? What are your goals in this area?

Always with a view to active collaboration along the supply chain, in this case of recycling, for several years we have supported numerous information and promotional projects dedicated to the collection and recycling of beverage cartons intended for citizens. In 2021, despite the absence of an official collection target for beverage cartons, around 32,000 tonnes of packaging were recycled in Italy, equal to 36.5% (Comieco data). At the basis of a recycling value chain that functions, however, there must be an efficient collection system and defined targets, the latter capable of combining the three dimensions of sustainability – environmental, social and economic – based on the specificities of the individual countries, with maximum attention to the productive fabric and to the commitments carried out precisely in the sign of recycling which – for paper and cardboard – sees Italy first in Europe. The commitment, together with our partners, is therefore to accelerate in this direction to help achieve ever more ambitious goals from a circular economy perspective.

How can you imagine an even more sustainable Tetra Pak package?

Our beverage cartons are currently made with an average of 70% paper, to which is added the polymeric component (that of vegetable origin is increasing) and a thin layer of aluminium. In this regard, it is important to remember that these components – cellulose fiber (paper) and polyal (plastic and aluminum) – are recyclable and, after recycling, can find new uses and give life to a multiplicity of new objects. The path towards the sustainability of our beverage cartons begins, in fact, already in the design phase: a packaging must be designed to be recycled. A simple concept, which however changes the entire production cycle and consumption habits: as I said, it is necessary to conceive the life of packaging in a circular way, using materials from renewable, recyclable and recycled sources, while respecting the need to provide a food safe and functional container for consumers. Our commitment on this front is maximum. A commitment that we like to define as circular and future-proof.

To find out more about Tetra Pak’s sustainable choices, visit the site.