Producers have begun meeting consumer demands for sustainable, responsible packaging, Tetra Pak announced.

The company said that more Middle Eastern and African companies have started using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) labelled cartons to package their food and beverage products.

Agripa Munyai, environmental manager at Tetra Pak South Africa, said that “consumers in this region (Middle East and Africa) are gradually becoming aware of environmental issues.

“Companies need a clear label on their package to communicate their commitment to the environment in a straightforward way, and we are happy to support our customers with responsible sourcing and labelling,” he added.

Munyai explained that the FSC logo is widely recognised by consumers, which enables them to choose brands that are driving sustainable forestry.

What is FSC?

FSC labels indicate that the packaging comes from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations.

Customers that use FSC packages

Woodlands Dairy in South Africa and Al Rabie in Saudi Arabia were among the first in the region to use FSC-labelled packages, Munyai said.

By 2015, Tetra Pak had deployed around 1,9 billion packs of FSC-certified packages to the GME&A region. Now, all factories and market companies in this region are FSC certified.