Tetra Pak just hit a major milestone in its sustainability journey: The packaging and processing company has now produced and delivered more than 500 billion carton packages made from paperboard from forests certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, marking a significant environmental achievement for Tetra Pak as it seeks to promote responsible sourcing and contribute to a low-carbon, circular economy.
Tetra Pak has made its cartons with FSC-certified paperboard since 2007, accelerating the production of those cartons in the last three years. About 71 percent of the raw materials used in Tetra Pak’s carton packages consists of FSC-certified paperboard. FSC certification helps prevent deforestation and promotes sustainable forest management.
Collaborating with customers who are just as committed to sustainability has been key to Tetra Pak’s success in delivering more 500 billion carton packages globally, according to the company.
“Tetra Pak’s achievement contributes to our target to source 100 percent certified paper board by 2020,” Ivan Pavic, manager of global plastics and liquid packaging procurement for FrieslandCampina, a Dutch dairy cooperative. “The increase of FSC certifications enables us to strengthen our claims on deforestation-free products and reduced global carbon footprint. We will continue to collaborate with Tetra Pak on increasing responsible sourcing in order to improve traceability upstream.”
“Responsible sourcing is a growing area of synergy with our customers,” says Igor Popovic, global account director for PepsiCo at Tetra Pak. “We set a roadmap towards 100 percent FSC-certified volumes with PepsiCo that we have completed earlier this year. These actions allow both companies to contribute to sustainable forest management and actively engage consumers in this journey.”
Driving environmental excellence is one of Tetra Pak’s strategic priorities. It’s long-term goal is to deliver all packages with the FSC label. “Having achieved full FSC Chain of Custody certification for all our operations, we can supply FSC-labelled packages from anywhere in the world,” says Mario Abreu, vice president of sustainability at Tetra Pak. “Climate change and resource scarcity is impacting society and the food industry. Going forward we will ensure every supplier is committed to increase and maintain FSC-certified volumes above 70 percent.”
