Tetra Pak is committed to innovation to improve environmental performance and reduce climate impact across the value chain, Neils Hougaard, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Arabia Area, said about the company's participation in the recently held Waste Management & Recycling Summit in Le Meridien Hotel, Jeddah. "Tetra Pak is committed to reducing climate impact across the value chain and we can only achieve it through innovation and collaboration with our suppliers and our customers. We have a global team dedicated to drive recycling, and this network of experts gives us unique possibility to share knowledge and facilitate increased recycling," he said. He added " we are also committed to innovation to improve environmental performance by developing bio-based materials for caps and coatings, and separable top of Tetra Top to facilitate separate recycling." He further said that wherever it operates, Tetra Pak protects its own future by protecting the future of others, helping customers to achieve sustainable business success, while working in ways that best protect the future of our planet. "We drive environmental excellence by taking a value chain approach, focusing on developing sustainable products, reducing our environmental footprint and increasing recycling," Hougaard noted. Tetra Pak leads the industry towards 100% renewable packaging. By increasing the use of renewable materials and ensuring a responsible supply chain we reduce the strain on global resources, which is good for the environment and for business. "We take a life cycle approach to drive environmental performance. This means that we look at the whole life of our products and work on every step of our operations to minimize our environment footprint," he explained. Underlining Tetra Pak's continuous improvements of energy efficiency, water and waste reduction in processing and filling lines, Hougaard said "we implement automation solutions to optimize customer efficiency and environmental performance and we develop packaging design that reduces use of materials and improves transportation efficiency." Moreover, he said since Tetra Pak's packages main material is paper, which is made from trees, a renewable source, "we are committed to have a responsible supply chain. Tetra Pak cartons carry the label of the Forest Stewardship Council, an independent, non-governmental, not for profit organization which promotes the responsible management of the world's forests." To receive FSC certification, the wood fibers used in the package must be traceable all the way through the supply chain back to the forest and that the paperboard used in the package must come well-managed forests and other controlled sources. In short, wherever Tetra Pak operates, Hougaard said "we act as a catalyst to make recycling happen everywhere — from development of the collection infrastructure and engaging consumers to development of recycling technology." And the company can only achieve it through innovation and collaboration with its suppliers and customers. "We have a global team dedicated to drive recycling, and this network of experts gives us unique possibility to share knowledge and facilitate increased recycling," he pointed out. Besides, Tetra Pak's innovation agenda includes increasing food safety assurance such as traceability technologies that make products fully traceable at every stage of processing and packaging, for example through the use of magnetic ink. It also covers innovation for functionality and differentiation by introducing new packaging products to meet changing consumer behavior such as on-the-go consumption and smaller family size, and new packaging design to maximize brand exposure and differentiate products from the rest of the shelf, he added. In the Arabia area of the GME&A, Tetra Pak is active in 12 countries.
