SWITZERLAND – European multinational food packaging and processing company Tetra Pak has co-invested over €11.5 million (US$13.05m) with recyclers and industry players in four new Recyling facilities.  

The four completely new recycling solutions for carton packages are located in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Australia.  

Tatiana Liceti, EVP for Market Operations at Tetra Pak, said: “Sustainability is one of the top three priorities for our customers, and these new facilities will help contribute towards meeting their goals.”

Building recycling capacity from scratch 

In Saudi Arabia, Tetra Pak partnered on the ‘RIYcycle’ project with two leading recycling companies, Obeikan Paper Industries (OPI) and Saudi Top Plastic Factory (STP).  

With a joint investment of over €3 million, the project – a country’s first – aims to increase collection and recycling by creating value for post-consumer cartons collected in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries, such as Kuwait and UAE.  

The new line for carton recycling has an expected capacity of 8,000 tonnes a year, while the new plant for PolyAl has a capacity of around 4,000 tonnes of granules per year. 

Tetra Pak’s efforts in Turkey in collaboration with Kahramanmaraş Paper saw a joint investment of approximately €4 million into a new recycling facility. 

The plant enables the recycling of all components of Tetra Pak cartons, with an annual recycling capacity of 18,000 tons of cartons, equaling 47% of the current carton recycling capacity in the country. 

Ukraine receives first complete carton recyling solution 

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Tetra Pak partnered with Zmievskaya Paper Factory to launch a country-first complete solution to recycle carton packages. 

 The joint investment of more than €1.5 million enables the recycling of up to 15,000 tonnes of cartons to produce over 4,000 tonnes of high-quality PolyAl pellets annually. 

In Australia, Tetra Pak is collaborating with industry players under the umbrella of the Global Recycling Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (GRACE) to create a US$5 million facility with an estimated 4,000 tonnes carton recycling capacity. 

Circularity at the Core of Tetra Pak’s sustainability strategy 

Working collaboratively to advance recycling and to realise a circular economy has always been core to Tetra Pak’s sustainability strategy.  

The company’s pioneering investments and partnerships over the last ten years have helped over 170 recycling operations across the globe to process carton packages.  

What’s changing is the pace of action to align with shifting consumer demands and ambitious corporate sustainability goals. 

As shown by the latest Tetra Pak Index, approximately 50% of consumers are likely to recycle more this year as part of their personal contribution to tackling climate change.  

In addition, when asked who should find solutions to environmental and waste issues, consumers rank packaging companies third – behind food and beverage brands and governments. 

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