New drive to help step up carton recycling for greener future

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Dubai - Food packaging firm Tetra Pak said it would cooperate with key players to advance the entire recycling value chain.

By Team KT

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Published: Sat 28 Aug 2021, 5:47 PM

Last updated: Sun 29 Aug 2021, 3:51 PM

Tetra Pak Arabia Area aspires to create the world’s most sustainable food packaging, while ensuring that used cartons and packets are recycled.

The food packaging firm on Friday announced the launch of its ‘Go Nature. Go Carton’ campaign, aiming to draw attention towards the global climate challenge and urge people to learn more about the environmental impact of food packaging.


Tetra Pak said it would cooperate with several key players — alongside more than 170 recycling firms around the world — to advance the entire recycling value chain. The company aims for a sustainable future that includes 100 per cent renewable packages by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

Currently, Tetra Pak cartons contain about 70 per cent paperboard produced from wood fibres that are responsibly sourced.


“By strengthening the global carton recycling infrastructure, the company can ensure cartons are transformed into new raw materials and products, keeping valuable resources in use to help build a circular economy,” said Niels Hougaard, managing director of Tetra Pak Arabia and cluster leader sales management for the greater Middle East and Africa.

He explained: “High-performance food packaging plays a critical role in feeding the world, but it must do so sustainably, so that food availability does not come at the cost of the planet.”

The company is currently seeking opportunities to improve how cartons are recycled.

“We see it as our fundamental obligation to support the collection, sorting and recycling of packaging. That’s why, in synergy with food manufacturers, municipalities, recyclers and other stakeholders across the industry, we are on a journey to develop and scale the recycling of paper-based cartons, helping to make them the world’s most sustainable food package,” he added.

The company has launched a first-of-its-kind recycling partnership with Saudi-based Obeikan Paper Industries (OPI) to recycle paper of collected post-consumer cartons.

“OPI has their own company-wide waste management and is ready to start working on programmes that increase collection and contribute to a sustainable recycling value chain. A new recycling partnership with Saudi Top Plastics Factory, a leading plastic recycling plant in the region, was formed to recycle the remaining plastic and aluminium compound residue resulting from cartons recycling at OPI. STP brings 15 years of experience in its scope, carrying a capacity to recycle about 50,000 tonnes of plastics annually. These developments come together to ensure that our packages can be fully recycled,” he added.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com


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