Tetra Pak launches its first FSC-certified cartons
3 December 2007
As of Thursday 30 November, shoppers in the British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s can buy their Premium Chopped Tomatoes in an exclusive package: An FSC-certified carton named Tetra RecartTM .
The cartons are produced by one of the world’s leaders in cardboard food packaging, Tetra Pak, and are initially sold exclusively by Sainsbury’s. According to a joint press statement by Tetra Pak and Sainsbury’s, these are the world’s first FSC-certified cartons for liquids and canned food.
Five key branches of Tetra Pak each received an FSC chain of custody certificate from the Rainforest Alliance in June 2007, based on assessments conducted by NEPCon. The certificates enable the company to sell FSC-labeled cartons to retailers.
 At this stage, only the Tetra RecartTM packages are sold with the FSC label by Tetra Pak. However, the range of certified packages produced by the company is set to grow. In a press release, the Vice President of Tetra Pak’s Global Environment Section Claes du Rietz said: ”Our ultimate goal is to have all the paper in our packaging certified to the highest standard – currently set by the FSC”.
In addition to being critical about the forest sources of the paperboard, Tetra Pak is focusing on the overall environmental impact of its cartons. These efforts are reflected in the FSC-certified Tetra RecartTM package, whose weight is only 18 g and which has a shape allowing efficient stacking. Reducing the weight and volume of the packages minimizes carbon emissions during transport, storage and distribution.
Similarly, Sainsbury’s – a leading UK food retailer – is investing into its corporate environmental responsibility. For exampe, the company has committed itself to move 150 million plastic packs and trays to compostable material.
About Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is among the world’s leading cardboard food packaging companies. According to the company, last year Tetra Pak delivered almost 130,000 million cartons to its clients around the world, and the company’s net sales amounted to more than 8,500 million Euro.
In total, Tetra Pak holds 6 different FSC chain of custody certificates covering different units. Five of these were issued by the Rainforest Alliance in June this year.
Tetra Pak Suisse SA, which is producing the Tetra RecartTM packages, holds the certificate SW-COC-002421.
More information about Tetra Pak is available at www.tetrapak.com.
Source: Joint press release by Tetra Pak and Sainsbury’s |
