FRANCE – Tetra Pak, a multinational food packaging and processing company headquartered in Switzerland, is planning to invest €100 million (about US$119 million) in a project to expand its Châteaubriant plant, in France. 

According to a statement from the food processing equipment maker, the new expansion work will achieve increased production capacity even as the company prepares for transition to tethered caps. 

Tetra Pak plans to transition to tethered caps by 2024 to help to minimise litter, the new expansion project will thus ensure that it is ready and well prepared for the shift. 

The company says this step is key to ensuring that Tetra Pak’s customers in Europe will be ready to comply with the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive which roposed in May 2018, as part of the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy. 

The directive aims to prevent and tackle marine litter by, among other things, phasing out unnecessary single-use plastics, introducing economic incentives to reduce consumption and transition to reusable systems, and establishing high collection rates and extended producer responsibility schemes (EPR). 

According to the Directive, Member States have to achieve an ambitious and sustained reduction in the consumption of those products by 2026 compared to 2022. 

“We are particularly proud of this investment project, which demonstrates how we consistently strive to provide customers with sustainable innovations and meet the rapidly changing demands of regulators and society,” said Charles Brand, President of Tetra Pak Europe & Central Asia 

“High-performance food packaging plays a critical role in feeding the world, but it must do so sustainably, so that food availability does not come at the cost of the planet.” 

The Châteaubriant plant is a key manufacturing facility for Tetra Pak, serving food and beverage manufacturers globally, with a production capacity of approximately 5 billion caps in 2020.  

According to Tetra Pak, the new investment at the facility will be spread over two phases with the first one beginning in late 2021. 

Phase 1 will see the industrial site expanded to accommodate a 30% increase in manufacturing capacity through the installation of ten additional lines that will be dedicated to the production of tethered caps. 

Then, between 2022 and 2023, approximately 50% of the existing lines will be replaced, again to expand the access of F&B players to tethered caps. 

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