Tetra Pak, a world-leading food processing and packaging solutions company, released the 2021 Sustainability Report, celebrating the many ways the company has worked to protect food, people, and the planet in the past year. An annual tradition since 1999, this year's report is especially poignant during a global pandemic, while the world's focus on the planet and the environment is being challenged.

Highlights from the global operations in 2020

• Continued to ensure food safety and help customers maintain uninterrupted food supplies during the COVID-19 crisis; In 2020 alone, over 77 billion liters of products have been sold in Tetra Pak packages.

• Worked in partnerships to ensure 64 million children in 45 countries received milk or other nutritious beverages in Tetra Pak packages in their schools, despite the pandemic

• Achieved our 2020 climate goal, decoupling economic growth from GHG emissions across the full value chain, scope 1, 2, 3 (-19% versus 2010). Achieved an outstanding –70% GHG reduction in our operations from 2010 to 2020, scope 1 and 2.

• Announced a net-zero climate goal and SBTi approved science-based targets across all scopes 1, 2 & 3

• Technical validation with the limited commercial launch of the first aseptic package with non-foil barrier.

• Launched breakthrough low-energy equipment line for processing juices and still drinks

• Led and implemented a wide range of activities across the recycling value chain in markets worldwide, contributing to an increased global carton package recycling rate of 27%.

• Became the only company in the carton packaging sector to be included in CDP's leadership band for environmental transparency and action for five years in a row and to score an outstanding double "A" for climate and forests

• Extended the use of renewable electricity across our factories to 83% in 2020, up from 69% in 2019, surpassing our target of 80%.

Highlights of Tetra Pak's initiatives in India in 2020

• Continued to ensure uninterrupted support to our customers and the nation during the lock-down period owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1.8 billion litres of products have been supplied to brands across India in 2020 alone.

• Deployed over Rs 5 crores towards COVID-19 relief efforts in India

• Worked closely with customers to help optimize their operations and equipment to help reduce water, energy, and product waste

• Installed solar panels with a capacity of 3000 kW at our manufacturing site at Chakan (Maharashtra) - a step towards reaching our 100% renewable electricity target

• Doubled the capacity of our Certified Renovation Center that refurbishes packaging & processing equipment by reusing 80% of the material while extending the life of the equipment by another 60%, significantly reducing the CO2 impact

• Tetra Pak's collection and recycling network expanded to cover 26 states and Union Territories, over 45 cities and 15 army cantonments, supported by four recyclers across India

• Four new collection partners were added in 4 cities - Earth Recycler in Chennai, FINISH Society in Udaipur, The Kabadiwala in Bhopal and Waste Warriors in Dehradun

• A new used carton package collection facility was set up in partnership with the Indian Army at Joshimath, Uttarakhand

• Also, the first-ever carton package recycling facility was set up in Sri Lanka in collaboration with EcoMaximus

• Reached a recycling rate of over 40% in India owing to Tetra Pak's efforts as well as the efforts of the industry through Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons (AARC)

• AARC now includes 15 member companies, including leading F&B brands and carton manufacturers

• Completed 11 years of Go Green with Tetra Pak (consumer awareness program in Mumbai), collecting over 80 lakh carton packages over the years. The program was expanded further to Chennai, with 18 consumer drop-off points set up across the city.

• Successfully concluded Phase 1 (2017-2019) and kicked-off Phase 2 of Alag Karo – Har Din Teen Bin, a waste segregation program run in partnership with Coca Cola India, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, implemented by Saahas.

The full report, including highlights and cases from India, can be viewed here.

As a world-leading food processing and packaging solutions company, Tetra Pak recognizes that future success depends on its ability to provide safe and environmentally sound products to consumers and commits to being socially responsible in the way it operates across the value chain. The company has long taken a value chain approach because it recognizes that it can only create a more sustainable future by addressing the interconnected nature of the environmental, social, and economic challenges. Tetra Pak uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help prioritize sustainability efforts.

The company's Strategy 2030, which will guide the team over the next decade, has "Lead the sustainability transformation" as one of its central pillars comprising of two goals: "Lead with low-carbon circular economy solutions" and "Enhance sustainability across the value chain". This is well reflected in the actions taken in 2020 and the plans for the next decade.