Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022 - 19

inside at...Tetra Pak
'A CDP trailblazer company'
TETRA PAK, said Tisserand,
has been reporting to the CDP
Supply Chain Programme -
widely recognised as the gold
standard of corporate environmental
disclosure - since
2009.
The CDP supports companies,
cities, states and regions
to measure and manage their
risks and opportunities on
climate change, water security
and deforestation. It does
this at the request of their investors,
purchasers and city
stakeholders. Companies
disclose their environmental
information by completing
a questionnaire on climate
change, forests and water security,
which provides them
with important insights into
their environmental performance.
Each year, CDP takes
the information supplied and
scores the companies and
cities who are members,
as an incentive to move toward
greater environmental
transparency and action. The
organisation applies an independent
methodology to
assess all companies, allocating
a score of 'A' to 'D' - based
on the comprehensiveness
of disclosure, awareness and
management of environmental
risks and demonstration of
best practices associated with
environmental leadership,
such as setting ambitious and
meaningful targets.
This year, Tetra Pak made
the A List for the sixth year
running. And for the third time,
the company scored a double
A: on climate change and on
forest protection - two of the
three environmental themes
covered by CDP.
" For the Forests theme, we
first helped CDP to pilot the
system in 2015, and then we
have reported into it and been
scored since 2016, " said Tisserand.
" Our inclusion in the
CDP leadership band for the
sixth time - as the only company
in the carton packaging
sector - recognises the fact
that we are taking the right
steps on combatting climate
change and minimising deforestation
risks. "
Looking ahead, the company
has committed to switching
to 100% renewable electricity
in its operations by
2030. " Last year, renewable
electricity
use across our operations
increased
to over 80%,
with all of our
converting factories
within the
EU, as well as all
of our factories
and offices in
the U.S. already
using 100% renewable
electricity, "
noted
Tisserand.
and multidimensional issue
which cannot be solved by one
entity or one solution, but we
can all contribute. "
He pointed to the emission
breakdown along the value
chain, which clearly reveals the
importance of collective action.
Based on the data from 2020,
approximately 40% of emissions
are generated upstream
and over 50% downstream, including
processing and packaging
equipment operating at
customer sites and post-consumer
cartons not recycled
or recovered
for energy.
" We are on a traPlastics
Economy Global Commitment,
that we signed back
in 2019.
Future developments
Tetra Pak strives continuously
to enhance and advance the
sustainability of its product.
" As an example, a development
priority for us is replacing
aluminium with an alternative
barrier that still protects the food
inside from oxygen and light.
After all, the primary purpose of
our packaging is to protect food.
Together with the paperboard
and plastic, aluminium keeps the
product inside safe to consume
and protects its properties over
an extended shelf life. However,
this thin layer inside our aseptic
package is responsible for about
a third of the climate impact of
our base materials, " Tisserand
elaborated.
The company introduced its
first aseptic packaging solution
without aluminium in 2020, with
plans to progressively launch
additional high-performance,
non-foil cartons, with increased
renewable and fibre content, in
years to come " with the commitment
to launch a fully renewable
aseptic package by
2023, " he said.
" In addition, we are working
across various project streams,
covering approximately 40 different
tethered cap solutions,
to equip our customers in Europe
ahead of the regulatory
deadlines in 2024. Set to become
available as plant-based
options, tethered caps can also
contribute to reduce the carton's
carbon footprint.
" This will require an innovation-led
approach to the development
and validation of completely
new technologies, but we
are confident that we have the
expertise and a clear line of sight
to deliver on this. Furthermore,
we are also investing approximately
€100 million per year over
the next five to ten years into the
development of more sustainable
packaging solutions. "
'A full life cycle view'
As a company, Tetra Pak has
striven to substantially reduce
its environmental impact in
a number of ways in order to
minimise its climate impact
and ensure
food security
for the future.
" We take a full
life cycle view, "
said Tisserand.
Seeking to
drive down carbon
emissions
at every step of
the value chain,
Tetra Pak has
focused both
on the decarbonisation
of the raw materials
used to produce its cartons, by
using renewable plant-based
materials instead of fossil-fuel
based materials, and on decarbonising
production.
The company has joined forces
with suppliers to minimise
its carbon footprint upstream.
These efforts have involved
switching to renewable energy
and reducing the carbon impact
of the equipment used.
Moreover, by helping to reduce
food loss and waste and
driving recycling, we can preserve
resources and reduce
climate impact even further,
Tisserand added.
" Climate change is a complex
jectory to hit net
zero emissions
across our own
operations by
2030, with the ambition
to reach net
zero across our
entire value chain
by 2050. As a target
approved by
the Science Based
Targets initiative
across all scopes
1, 2 & 3, this means
- amongst other
things - reaching
-46% GHG reduction
across the value
chain by 2030,
in line with a 1.5°C
path. This is what
the latest climate
science has told us
is needed to prevent
the most
d am aging
Packaging from 100%
natural resources
effects of climate
change, and we are fully
committed to playing our
part, " he declared.
Will the company hit those
goals?
" We have consistently delivered
on our climate goals, right
from the first goal set in 2002,
again in 2005, and we recently
outperformed our 2020 goal -
to cap our 2020 impact across
the value chain at 2010 levels
while growing the business.
" We believe that our ability
to set and demonstrate progress
in line with science and
societal expectations, our innovation
drive and the collaborative
approach across the
value chain positions us on
the right path to achieve our
new ambition. "
January/February 2022
19
Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022

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