Packaging company Tetra Pak has revealed that 23 per cent of all its cartons were recycled worldwide in 2012.
This means that by increasing its recycling rate by just 2 per cent on 2011, an additional 3.6 billion Tetra Paks were recycled. By 2020, the company has a goal of 40 per cent of its cartons being recycled across the globe.
If it meets its target, this would mean 100 billion of its cartons would be recycled in 2020.
In its 2013 Sustainability Report, Switzerland-based company Tetra Pak also revealed that it had increased the number of cartons using bio-based polymers from sugar cane for the closures and caps to 610 million.
Luxembourg and Belgium both had Tetra Pak recycling rates above 80 per cent, while Germany was above 70 per cent.
China, Russia and Arabia, while starting from a low base, doubled their recycling of the cartons in the past three years.
While in the UK, Tetra Pak is a member of ACE UK that worked with Sonoco Alcore to open a new recycling facility in West Yorkshire.
In its sustainability report, Tetra Pak revealed that it experts its raw materials and other natural resources to become more scarce and increasingly expensive. As a result, it is working on renewability and using responsibly managed renewable materials with the goal of a 100 per cent renewable carton package for liquid food.
It is also looking at ways to make the aluminium layer in its packs even thinner.
Tetra Pak president and chief executive Dennis Jönsson said: “The progress we’ve made in 2012 is the result of innovation and collaboration.
“We have no illusions about the challenges we face. But we believe that by finding new ways to process, package and distribute food and to deal with waste, and by working with partners throughout the value chain, we will make a difference for the future of the company, industry and society.”
