Tetra Pak is a multinational food packaging and processing company founded in 1943 by Ruben Rausing<\/a>. In 1955, he came up with an innovative process to package liquids such as milk and cream in a way to better protect its contents and make distribution more efficient all while using minimal material. This all laddered up to a larger belief that a package should “save more than it costs”.<\/p>\n More than 60 years later, the concept is still quite the same but improvements have been made, especially when it comes to materials used and processing. To get a better idea of how Tetra Pak aseptic* cartons are made, I’ve outlined its manufacturing in the following steps:<\/p>\n In my opinion, the main sustainable quality of Tetra Pak’s aseptic cartons is that they protect food without preservatives, avoid food loss and help make products available in some parts of the world where refrigeration is not always an option. The cartons are also lightweight, especially compared to glass, so there are fewer carbon emissions from transportation.<\/p>\n Certainly the biggest sustainability challenge for Tetra Pak is the recycling of cartons. Tetra Pak depends on consumers and local recycling facilities to recycle cartons. The below video gives a deeper dive into how carton recycling works. As many other multinational manufacturing operations companies do, Tetra Pak also depends on consumers to choose its cartons instead of reusable containers.<\/p>\n It was inspiring to meet Tetra Pak\u2019s employees and to see their dedication to address these challenges and create sustainable products. They recognize where they can improve in their sustainability e\ufb00orts and they are actively seeking and implementing solutions to be more\u00a0\fsustainable across the value chain. Here are some examples of how Tetra Pak is addressing its sustainability challenges:<\/p>\n For Tetra Pak to be 100% sustainable, they need their cartons to be recycled. Carton recycling access in the U.S. has increased by 350% over the past 10 years. However, there is still a lot of work to be done since only 61% of households in the US had access to recycling in 2019 and the carton recycling rate was only 16%. In conclusion, if we want to enjoy the convenience and food safety bene\ufb01ts of a Tetra Pak carton or any other container, we all need to make sure we do our part and put it in a recycling bin after using it.<\/p>\n To learn more about sustainability, please feel free to visit our library our short sustainability videos<\/a> and cartoons<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Aseptic processing, which allows products to be shelf-safe without preservatives, involves three primary steps: thermal sterilization of the product, sterilization of the packaging material, and conservation of sterility during packaging. Read more here<\/a>.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text]![\"Tetra-Pak-Layers\"](\"https:\/\/sustainabilityillustrated.com\/en\/files\/2019\/12\/Tetra-Pak-Layers-300x270.png\")
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Sustainability benefits of Tetra Pak cartons<\/h3>\n
Sustainability challenges Tetra Pak faces<\/h3>\n
How Tetra Pak addresses those challenges<\/h3>\n
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![\"Recycling-Tetra-Pak\"](\"https:\/\/sustainabilityillustrated.com\/en\/files\/2019\/12\/Recycling-1-196x300.png\")
Tetra Pak educates their customers (i.e. the food and beverage companies that choose to package their product into Tetra Pak cartons) to improve the recyclability of cartons. For instance, when Tetra Pak has encouraged their customers to include the
\n\u201crecyclable\u201d logo on their cartons, it has doubled the recycling ratio of the cartons;<\/li>\n