Our approach to sustainability is embodied by our purpose “we commit to making food safe and available, everywhere and we promise to protect what’s good - protecting food, people and the planet”.
Our purpose guides our business decisions, unifies our people, and continues to be the driving force behind our innovations. It is central to our Strategy 2030 and its four pillars of quality, sustainability, integration and optimisation, and innovation.
Our approach to sustainability takes into consideration the expectations of our stakeholders, and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics that are most material to our industry. At the heart of our sustainability approach, we consider the interconnections and interdependencies of five focus areas, which are aligned with our purpose and where Tetra Pak can contribute the most: food systems1, nature, climate, circularity, and social sustainability.
Tetra Pak remains committed to monitoring, managing, and reporting on our five focus areas. As part of this commitment to openness and transparency, we regularly conduct a formal, materiality assessment to ensure we are addressing those topics of greatest relevance, for our customers, business, society, and the environment.
In 2023 we conducted our first Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) with the support of a third party, in line with guidance from the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the underlying European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The DMA was conducted in four phases: understanding, identification, assessment, and determination. Read more about the objectives and key activities performed within each phase below.
Our DMA resulted in a list of material impacts that Tetra Pak has on people and the environment (impact materiality) as well as material risks and opportunities that various ESG topics have on Tetra Pak’s business (financial materiality). These material impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) have been grouped under 21 material topics in connection with Tetra Pak’s sustainability agenda which help structure our sustainability statements within our FY23 Sustainability Report.
In 2024 we plan to refine our DMA methodology and assessment considering our learnings from our first assessment and the draft ‘Implementation Guidance’ published by EFRAG in December 2023.
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
The DMA process involved identifying and assessing the material impacts that Tetra Pak has on people and the environment – called impact materiality – and the material risks and opportunities that various ESG topics have on our business, referred to as financial materiality. These material impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) were grouped under 21 material topics related to the five areas of our sustainability agenda.
Verification is essential to our sustainability process. Our practices and performance are externally verified, and Tetra Pak’s scopes 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission data have received limited assurance by a third party since 2013. Our 2023 direct operations water data have also received limited assurance by a third party. Our FY23 Sustainability Report is prepared using the latest ESRS as a foundation for our disclosures.
See our GHG and Water Inventory report
We are working with our financial auditors on building confidence in our approach to sustainability reporting to gain limited assurance on our first CSRD reporting in 2026.
We also have an Advisory Panel, formed in 2020, to provide independent strategic insight, guidance and assistance focused on sustainability and innovation in pursuit of Tetra Pak’s purpose. The panel comprises independent external advisors, who were selected based on their range of experience and expertise deemed necessary to shape and inform a pioneering sustainability agenda that will help us achieve our sustainability goals, including our ultimate ambition to create the world’s most sustainable food package2.
Tetra Pak’s overall sustainability direction, including ambitions, targets and commitments, is led by the Sustainability Leadership Team, chaired by the Executive Vice President of Sustainability of the Tetra Pak Group, and governed by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), chaired by the President and CEO of Tetra Pak.
1The term ‘food systems’ refers to all the elements and activities related to producing and consuming food, and their effects, including economic, health, and environmental outcomes (OECD, https://www.oecd.org/food-systems, 2023).
2This means creating cartons that are fully made of renewable or recycled materials, that are responsibly sourced, therefore helping protect and restore our planet's climate, resources and biodiversity; contributing towards carbon-neutral production and distribution; are convenient and safe, therefore helping to enable a resilient food system; are fully recyclable.