Tetra Pak to introduce more than 1.5 billion Forest Stewardship Council™-labelled cartons in Spain
Wednesday 15 September 2010Tetra Pak plans to offer 1.5 billion beverage cartons bearing the label of the Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC) through 2011 to customers in Spain. The initiative, which starts in October, is designed to promote the use of sustainable paperboard from responsibly managed forests.
“As a leading producer of food packaging we set goals for sustainable raw material sourcing. FSC certification represents another step in Tetra Pak’s ongoing commitment to support responsible forest management and drive environmental performance – and a milestone in reliable and informative package labelling,” said Adolfo Orive, managing director of Tetra Pak Iberia. “Our ultimate goal is to have all supply certified to the highest standard, currently set by FSC. We are committed to increasing the number of Tetra Pak beverage cartons made from FSC-certified material as the availability of certified board increases,” he said.
On the raw material front, Tetra Pak works closely with its paperboard suppliers to ensure that all supply comes from known and acceptable sources. Currently, only 5% of the global forest stocks are FSC certified, and Tetra Pak is working with its partners to support an increase in supply. The FSC label informs consumers that the wood fibres in the package are sourced from well-managed forests and other controlled sources and are traceable throughout the supply chain.
President of WWF Spain Juan Carlos del Olmo welcomed the move. “This major initiative is a great example of how leading companies are supporting renewable sustainable materials and working to provide products with a better environmental profile, without additional cost. Now it is up to consumers to act.”
Tetra Pak launched the first FSC-labelled carton package Tetra Recart, in 2007. Since then the company has introduced FSC-labelled cartons in countries all over the world, including Brazil China, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Thailand. The total number of FSC-labelled Tetra Pak cartons exceeded 2.3 billion in 2009.
A carton package is mainly made from paperboard, a natural and renewable material, and the FSC label is a guarantee that this material is sourced from well-managed forests and other controlled sources. FSC labelling informs consumers and enables conscious consumer choice.