Tetra Pak, the food processing and packaging solutions company, operates numerous projects and programmes in support of the environment, such as environmental education programmes for children, increasing carton recycling rates, producing environmentally friendlier cartons, and maintaining Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

“This year World Environment Day focuses on responsible management of the planet’s natural resources,” says Penny Ntuli, communications director at Tetra Pak South Africa. “That’s a theme Tetra Pak is closely aligned to.”

“At Tetra Pak, we use environmental management systems to assess and manage the environmental impacts of our activities,” says Ntuli. “Respecting the environment has always been a hallmark of Tetra Pak therefore we work towards using the least amount of energy and reducing the amount of waste produced.”

The company’s vision towards the year 2020 is to provide fully sustainable packaging, using only renewable materials while leaving minimal environmental footprint and zero waste. Tetra Pak continuously works to reduce the amount of consumed energy, water and waste.

The company can supply FSC-labelled packages from anywhere in the world after receiving FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification for all of its converting plants and market companies. This serves Tetra Pak’s commitment towards using renewable resources rather than depleting natural resources. FSC is an international, non-governmental organisation that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. Its CoC certification allows wood fibres to be traced at every step through the supply chain which ensures that any product bearing the FSC logo supports forest management that adopts environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management practices.

The company is committed to reducing its environmental footprint across the value chain and to double its recycling rate of the post-consumer beverage cartons to 40% by the year 2020. Particularly for the Greater Middle East and Africa region, Tetra Pak’s strategy is to double the recycling rates by partnering with local recyclers. The company’s current levels of recycling cartons in the region stand at 21.2%.

Additionally, the company provides safe, innovative but most importantly environmentally sound products. The company has recently launched the world’s first fully renewable package, Tetra Rex, made entirely from plant-based, renewable packaging material. They were also behind the innovation of the world’s first bio-based cap for gable top packages.

The United Nations declared WED in 1972 as a vehicle to help raise awareness on issues related to the environment and encourage worldwide action for the sake of the environment. WED is celebrated in over 100 countries and has grown into a global platform for stakeholders, as well as, individuals to have the opportunity of showcasing public outreach that would create positive impact on the planet.