Circular Online‘s digital editor, Darrel Moore, talks to Alex Henriksen, Managing Director of Tetra Pak North Europe, to discuss packaging, deposit return schemes (DRS), and why it’s investing in plant-based materials.
How does Tetra Pak see DRS in terms of its opportunity for the UK to realise its ambitions in tackling climate change and reaching net zero by 2050?
It cannot be overstated – the DRS presents an integral opportunity for the UK to take a significant step towards realising its ambitions to achieve a truly circular economy, tackle climate change and reach net zero.
With so much at stake, and in the year when the UK hosts COP26, we have been consistently calling on the Government to be ambitious, creating an ‘all-in’ DRS that includes as wide a range of materials as possible, including carton packages.
This would help boost recycling rates, secure access to high quality liquid paper board that can be reused and avoid confusion amongst consumers who are already used to recycling cartons with other materials. Limiting the scope of the scheme would simply be a missed opportunity.
Tetra Pak says that the UK Government should create an ‘all-in’ DRS that covers as wide a range of materials as possible, including carton packages. There are some concerns (particularly in the aluminium sector) that an ‘all-in’ scheme could see an increase in consumers choosing multi-pack and larger plastic containers over other containers if they are all under a standard rate. Is this something that concerns Tetra Pak?
There should not be an alternative deposit level for drink containers in a multipack; each container of same type and size should carry the same deposit. A flat fee would seem to be the simplest approach and would not discriminate.
The purpose of the DRS is to incentivise consumers to return their package for recycling, irrespective of size or type, rather than encourage the use of one package over another.
The purpose of the DRS is to incentivise consumers to return their package for recycling, irrespective of size or type, rather than encourage the use of one package over another.
The principle therefore should be that all containers carry a deposit, including those sold in multi-packs, and to avoid a ‘partial’ DRS. Even in an on-the-go scheme, multipacks should not be excluded.
Though multipacks are usually taken home first, containers bought in multipacks are often used out-of-home, such as in lunch boxes. More importantly, an on-the-go DRS would mean that only some packages of each material and category would be taken back, and that all remaining packages would be collected through the kerbside system.
Where would Tetra Pak’s carton packaging fit into a DRS considering it’s traditionally considered a difficult product to recycle?
It’s a common misconception that cartons are difficult to recycle. In fact, carton packages would fit directly into the DRS as every single component of a carton package can be recycled.
This includes everything from the paperboard that constitutes an average of 70% of the package, to the polymers and aluminium that make up the rest. On top of that, they are recognised as fully recyclable by international standards.
The process for recycling is straightforward too – carton packages are pulped with ambient temperature water using a large rotating screw, which separates the fibres that make up the package, and the paperboard pulp is collected in one stream, with polymers and aluminium in a second.
These materials can then be used to create new products, such as cardboard tubes, inner tubes, and floor matting. As a result, it is more about increasing public awareness of the recycling process, and ensuring the correct collection and sorting infrastructure is available to help achieve full recyclability, than the packages themselves.
How does Tetra Pak see consumer take up under a DRS scheme, considering the UK already has kerbside recycling which sees around 60% (according to the BPF) of plastic bottles collected for recycling? Will people really take the time to return the material and, if they do, will councils be missing out on this feedstock?
We have seen an increase in the number of carton packages collected for recycling in the past 15 years. However, we acknowledge more needs to be done to get recycling rates where we want and need them to be.
Currently, they are limited by the lack of consistency and capability in adequate recycling infrastructure to sort carton packages more effectively for recycling.
We know fostering a carton packaging recycling culture in the UK and correcting common misconceptions around the recyclability of carton packages is key to an impactful DRS. That’s why it’s critical to eliminate confusion and make recycling as inclusive and therefore as simple as possible.
Currently the UK and Scottish governments are working separately to establish their own separate DRS. Does Tetra Pak think there needs to be collaboration on the end scheme, and what might the consequences be if there isn’t?
Inconsistencies between Scotland and the rest of the UK risk creating labelling problems for manufacturers, and potentially increase the risk of fraud.
While Scotland has already decided on the initial materials to be included in its DRS, a review in 2026 provides an opportunity for Scotland to widen the scope of its scheme, and align with an all-in DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that includes carton packages.
With an increase in sustainability impacting on consumer habits, are companies doing enough to ensure their packaging is being considered from a sustainability perspective from design to end of life?
Consumers are increasingly recognising the importance of sustainability and while the packaging industry is responding, there is more we can do across the industry, and faster.
From our 2020 Index Report, we know that concern for the environment is substantially ahead of everything else for consumers, except COVID-19. But, this is also jostling for priority amongst consumers as they try to balance environmental sustainability with human health through safe food.
We therefore need a closed loop, circular economy which: provides access to safe, nutritious food in protective packaging; encourages the deployment of low carbon, renewable resources such as plant-based materials; and considers the entire lifecycle of the carton – from start to finish.
Consumers are increasingly recognising the importance of sustainability and while the packaging industry is responding, there is more we can do across the industry, and faster.
Recycling has become a go-to solution to the packaging problem as part of a move towards circularity. After all, a strong recycling culture amongst consumers helps to minimise waste and litter.
Consequently, packaging companies have a responsibility to encourage consumers to engage with this culture, which is why Tetra Pak invests millions of pounds in consumer education. In 2019, we launched a social media campaign that educated the UK public on how to recycle carton packages, reaching over 6 million people to date.
Packaging companies must also engage with policymakers supporting the development of new collection, sorting and recycling infrastructures and consider how they can support its development.
In 2013, for example, we facilitated the opening of a carton recycling plant near Halifax, which is capable of recycling up to 40% of the cartons manufactured each year for the UK food and drink market.
Tetra Pak is investing in plant-based plastics, including its plant-based carton made from paperboard and plastic from sugarcane. What is the benefit of investing in plant-based materials? What happens to these at the end of life?
Simply put, plant-based materials are renewable and better for the environment. Renewable resources can be replenished over time, have a lower carbon footprint and reduced environmental impact.
They also enable a move away from fossil fuel-based materials and offer full circularity. It is not enough to have a circular packaging model, if it is blind to energy intensity, carbon emissions and end of life impact. To preserve our planet and climate, we need to limit permanent drainage of our planet’s fossil-based resources.
That’s why innovation in plant-based materials is a key focus area for Tetra Pak.
Through innovation, we’re addressing a broad range of customer sustainability needs without compromising on food safety, while still meeting the end-user drinking experience
We’ve been engaged with plant-based polymers since 2015, becoming the first food and beverage packaging company to start using RSB Advanced Products certified recycled polymers, this year.
Through our work with supplier Braskem, we were the first company in the food and beverage industry to responsibly source fully traceable sugar-cane polymers using the Bonsucro standards.
Through innovation, we’re addressing a broad range of customer sustainability needs without compromising on food safety, while still meeting the end-user drinking experience.
We recently announced new action towards reducing litter and creating a sustainable future as we are ready to deploy a range of tethered cap solutions which will help customers to minimise litter, with caps staying attached to the package, and reduce the carton’s carbon footprint, when the plant-based version becomes available in due course.
Alongside this, we’re accelerating the expansion of our paper straw offering to ensure further renewable and low carbon materials are available across our packaging ranges.
How important is collaboration in moving toward a circular economy, and what are the barriers to this?
When the challenge is as big as the one our planet is facing, collaboration is vital to achieving demonstrable change. One of the main barriers we are facing to creating a circular economy is the growing global population, which is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050.
High-performance packaging plays an increasingly vital role in today’s global food delivery system, especially as halving food waste would set emissions within the Paris Agreement’s 2°C global temperature increase limit.
We know we will not be able to achieve our sustainability targets without aligning with those who have common ambitions and goals.
But today, packaging can also cause issues for the planet, especially plastic, namely through CO2 emissions from material production, depletion of finite resources, waste and litter.
Tackling these challenges is no mean feat. We know we will not be able to achieve our sustainability targets without aligning with those who have common ambitions and goals.
Collaboration is key. This is why we recently created a new collaboration model with other leading paperboard producers, BillerudKorsnäs, Stora Enso and Klabin, who are equally passionate about tackling the food packaging industry’s sustainability challenges.
We also work closely with customers and retailers, to make sure they are supported and empowered to highlight their progress in their own sustainability journeys.
For example, our close relationship with the Carbon Trust led to Tetra Pak becoming the first packaging company to offer customers the opportunity to label their packages with the Carbon Trust Carbon Neutral Packaging Label, certifying that Tetra Pak’s Tetra Rex® Plant-based packaging is carbon neutral.
