Recycling feeds a circular economy

An approach to recycling that keeps valuable materials in use 

Today 37% of global waste ends in landfills and 33% is openly dumped [1]. Despite widespread local and regional recycling initiatives supported by a focused political agenda, relatively little waste is actually recycled. To improve this situation, food packaging needs to be fully recyclable, and recycling systems need to be improved to support full collection and recycling to keep materials in use.

Today Tetra Pak® carton packages are collected and recycled across the world; where efficient waste management and recycling infrastructure is in place. In Europe, nearly half of all used beverage cartons are collected for recycling and transformed into a wide range of new products. But we aim for more.​

Improving recycling at scale​

We are an active member of global and regional industry initiatives aimed at jointly addressing the collection and recycling of carton packages. We're collaborating with players across the value chain and with more than 170 recyclers for beverage cartons around the world to strengthen the collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure of our carton packages. We also co-invest with recyclers to increase capacity to process materials, and we collaborate with technology providers and suppliers to improve recycling technologies and implement best practice.

To further improve recyclability, we are investing heavily in the research and development of cartons with a simplified structure. Our ambition includes reducing the amount of plastic, starting to remove aluminium by 2021 and increasing the paper-based content in our packages. We aim for fully recyclable carton packages – recycled in practice and at scale globally – made solely from renewable or recycled materials.​

Increasing the circularity of our packages

Our ambition is to help put recycled materials to good use, by integrating them into our packaging. By 2025, we will incorporate a minimum of 10% recycled plastic content on average across our beverage cartons sold in Europe[2]. And increasing our use of recycled content is one of our key focus areas across our business.

All the recycling improvements in the world will not make a difference without the help of consumers. That's why we also work with a range of stakeholders across the value chain to raise consumer awareness. Our vision is that all beverage carton packages will be collected for recycling, and zero beverage cartons become litter or are sent to landfill.

[1] Worldbank.org, What a Waste 2.0

[2] Tetra Pak, Sustainability Report 2020, p.12​

[3] Worldbank.org, What a Waste 2.0

[4]​ World Economic Forum, The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics

[5] UN Environment, Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution​

[6] Tetra Pak, Collaboration is Powerful