The Tetra Pak 2009 Environmental and Social Report is now published. The report is an update on the company`s progress and on its continuing journey. Tetra Pak`s goal is that the cartons it manufactures are recycled in every country after use. The challenge is that Tetra Pak does not control recycling – it can only facilitate it by working with other partners in each country. Nevertheless, there has been a 64 percent increase in recycling of Tetra Pak cartons in the past six years, says the new report.

In 2001, 13 percent of the cartons that were manufactured were recycled, and by 2008 this had risen to 18 percent (or 25.6 billion cartons). The company`s original target for 2008 was to see 25 percent of cartons recycled. It did not achieve this, and acknowledge that it was overambitious, because Tetra Pak cannot directly control recycling. But it believes in inspired engagement and achievements including the expansion of recycling to many more countries than previously. Every country manager is measured on the recycling performance.

Increasing recycling depends on consumer action, industry capability and governments enabling recycling through regulatory frameworks.

* In China Tetra Pak partners with recyclers, schools, nongovernmental organizations, collection entities and local governments to establish a sustainable value chain for carton packaging collection and recycling. The recycling volume in 2008 reached nearly 28,000 tonnes and the recycling rate grew from almost zero in 2004 to around 10 percent in 2008.
* Tetra Pak partnered with NGOs, paper traders and paper mills in Egypt to stimulate recycling. In five years collection went from zero to 13 percent of all cartons sold.
* In Japan it works with Marusan-Ai Co., a soy milk producer, and Yamato Transport Co. It developed Marusan- Tetra Pak Recycle Service – a collection system enabling consumers to recycle cartons by mail for free. The cartons are shipped to Shin-ei Paper Mfg Co, a paper manufacturer, for recycling into sanitary paper such as tissues.
* In Thailand Tetra Pak co-sponsored a nationwide carton collection and recycling campaign with a popular TV programme. More than 21 million beverage cartons were recycled into notebooks and donated to schools along with supporting educational material.
* In the UK the company collaborates with local authorities, collectors and NGOs. They facilitate collection, provide consumer information and help identify end markets. As a result, more than 85 percent of UK local authorities provide access to beverage carton recycling.
* And in the European Union cartons have been classified as a single grade of recoverable paper, facilitating the trade of used beverage cartons as a commodity. The recycling rate for beverage cartons in Europe reached 32 percent in 2007, and another 33 percent was used to generate energy

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