March 25, 2014

Tetra pak

About the Pack:

Visit the local supermarket and there are so many different kinds of packages on the shelves. As an environmentally conscious consumer, how do you figure out which to choose? It helps to know exactly what you're buying. See what goes into a Tetra Pak package below.

Packaging material

1. Paperboard
The main ingredient in all our packages is paperboard. We use just enough to make the package stable, without adding unnecessary weight. Paperboard is a renewable raw material, made from wood.

2. Polyethylene
Thin layers of polyethylene - a commonly used plastic - are added to seal in the liquid and protect the product from external moisture.

3. Aluminium
Packages designed to store food without refrigeration also contain a thin layer of aluminium foil. This protects the product from oxygen, flavours and light.

Raw Materials:

Why use renewable raw material?

Tetra Pak packages are mostly made of wood, which is a renewable material.

Renewable simply means that the supply regrows naturally. Wood is renewed when trees grow at the same rate or faster than they are cut down. Tetra Pak only buys paperboard from suppliers who ensure that their wood comes from known and acceptable sources.

Forest Protection:

As wood is the main material in our packaging, it's natural we are interested in conserving all forests, not just those we use for our packages.

That's why we work with trusted global organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) and Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) to increase responsible forestry worldwide.

Life of a package:

Using renewable raw materials
We use renewable materials, as far as this is possible without reducing the performance of the package.

Recycling
To increase recycling, we work with customers, public authorities, NGOs, industry groups and community associations.


Your role as a consumer
At this stage in the package's life cycle - from the store to the recycling station - what you do also plays an important role.

Making production and distribution efficent
Customers use our equipment to package their products. We continously work to reduce the consumption of energy and water, and to minimize the amount of waste.


Turning raw materials into packaging material
Our goal is to minimise energy use and reduce waste during production at our factories.


Using certified paperboard
In 2008, 97% of the paperboard in Tetra Pak packages came from environmentally certified, responsibly managed forests. (Not bad going, but the goal, of course, is 100%).

Design for environment:

By using resources sparingly and designing cartons which can be recycled effectively, Tetra Pak's product developers help to minimise the packages' environmental impact. In practice, this means:

  1. Increasing the amount of renewable material in the package
  2. Reducing the amount of plastic in caps and packaging material
  3. Increasing efficiency of our equipment
  4. Minimising energy consumption
  5. Finding ways to eliminate waste
  6. Minimising emissions to air and water
  7. Securing efficient storage and transport solutions
Recycling:

What happens to used cartons?

If you live in an area where household rubbish is separated for recycling, your used cartons will be transported to a recycling plant. There, they will be soaked in water to separate the paperboard from the plastic and aluminium layers. The paper content can then be turned into new products like toilet paper, tissue and notebooks. The plastic and aluminium can also be recovered to make things like roof tiles or plastic pots.

Energy recovery

Recycling is not the only way to dispose of old cartons responsibly. They can also be incinerated and the energy recovered to generate heat and electricity. Some countries, such as Denmark, have decided to handle rubbish in this way. In Europe in 2007, 33% of all drink cartons were used to generate energy.

Source: http://campaign.tetrapak.com/