Food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak is keenly pursuing sustainable growth through a focus on bolstering collaboration in recycling, extended producer responsibility (EPR) and other initiatives, the company outlined during its Unlocking Sustainable Growth event, held in Johannesburg on September 18.

During the event, the company announced that it was aiming to increase the recycling rate of liquid board packaging (LBP) in South Africa to 40% by 2030.

Tetra Pak South Africa MD Klaus Plenge emphasised that the company was committed to its mission of leading sustainability, transformation and impacting industries and communities positively.

He noted that, in January, Tetra Pak joined producer responsibility organisation Petco, with its decision driven by the need for greater collaboration to improve the collection and recycling of its post-consumer packaging.

He highlighted that, within the last three years, the company had invested about R34-million in collection and recycling ecosystems, and this year, it was investing about R18-million.

Tetra Pak’s goal is to surpass 8 500 t in collection and recycling.

“This shows our commitment to EPR,” Plenge averred.  

The company is pursuing several initiatives to meet its goals, which include investing R10-million in a polymers and aluminium (PolyAl) recycling plant slated to launch in 2024.

This is expected to improve production lines for plastiwood furniture (recycled plastic), which is sold by various retailers countrywide.

In 2024, a pallet made from 100% PolyAl will be launched, aimed at engendering correct reuse and minimising the environmental impact of packaging waste.

This will be available to fast-moving consumer goods operations nationally, which will enhance the recycling of PolyAl packaging materials.

Currently, 38% of LBP delivered at the Gayatri recycling facility in Germiston is derived from new activated buyback centres facilitated by Tetra Pak and Petco.

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment chemicals and waste policy, monitoring and evaluation chief director Kgauta Mokoena pointed out that key to government’s policy is the aim of diverting waste away from landfill, and pivotal to this is collaboration with other stakeholders.

In this vein, Tetra Pak is undertaking industry collaborations dedicated to the collection and recycling of carton packages.

One such endeavour is its ‘Choose to Recycle’ pilot school competition, which has delivered about 45 000 cartons for recycling to date.

This pilot campaign is run in conjunction with Woodlands Dairy, Petco and Gayatri Paper Mills. Tetra Pak is in the process of expanding the campaign, with more partners and to more schools in the Cape and Gauteng region next year.

Tetra Pak is also endeavouring to increase collection and recycling collaboration on the ground, through avenues like collection and sorting, recycling capacity and the recovered material market.

Further to sustainability, Tetra Pak has also invested R500-million in its Pinetown plant, in Durban, to improve efficiencies, extend its reach and serve more customers, with this expected to be running partially at the end of this year, and to complete by March 2024.

The upgrade is expected to contribute to job creation, enhance local supply chains and considerably reduce lead times for delivery, Plenge acclaimed.

The Pinetown upgrade is also enhancing the plant’s operational sustainability, through the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, using less energy and water in processing, by incorporating alternative, green sources of electricity in manufacturing processes.

Also speaking during the event was Woodlands Dairy Lex Gutsche, who outlined that Tetra Pak had undertaken considerable development around reducing the carbon footprint of its packaging, which was used for several Woodlands’ products.

He said that this, in turn, enabled Woodlands Dairy to pursue its sustainability objectives with confidence – with this being a “from farm to fork” approach that aligns with all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Moreover, he highlighted that the packaging allowed the company to meet the changing demands of sustainability-orientated consumers.

For example, he outlined that Tetra Pak implemented a sugarcane-based layer inside the packaging instead of using a fossil fuel-based one (plastic). He said this resulted in a 15% reduction in the company’s carbon footprint on its one litre milk pack.

Nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) marketing manager Gerard Busse mentioned that Tetra Pak, as one of its members, had been championing responsible sourcing throughout the entire supply chain.

Tetra Pak has achieved full FSC chain of custody certification for all of its operations. This certification is used to confirm that materials are sourced sustainably throughout the supply chain.

He pointed out a considerable achievement in 2020 by Tetra Pak was having 140-billion packs labelled, with 100% FSC availability.