Tetra Pak and Earth Recycler accelerate the recycling of used cartons in Tamil Nadu

Tetra Pak, a world-leading packaging and processing solutions company recognized the world over for their focus on sustainability has joined hands with Chennai-based Earth Recycler to accelerate the recycling of used Tetra Pak cartons in the city. This project will focus on the increasing collection of used carton packages from Zone 7, 8, and 13 of Chennai while raising awareness about the value of used carton packages among the waste trade and creating a dedicated recycling stream for used cartons.

In the first year, the program expects to collect over 13 million cartons for recycling while generating direct employment for over ten residents and indirect employment for over 1200 others across the waste management value chain.

The occasion was graced by Vikram Kapur, IAS additional chief secretary, planning & development, Government of Tamil Nadu; Supriya Sahu, IAS, additional chief secretary - environment climate change & forests, Government of Tamil Nadu, and Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS, commissioner, greater Chennai's corporation.

Kapur, said, “The Greater Chennai Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board have been working on various initiatives to promote the recycling of packaging waste. We are happy to see that these paper-based cartons are already being recycled in the state and this new collaborative initiative will increase this even further, which fits perfectly into our mission of building a healthier, cleaner, litter-free Tamil Nadu.”

Bedi, added, “We are happy to see organizations like Earth Recycler and Tetra Pak proactively boost their efforts to strengthen the waste management and recycling infrastructure in Chennai and Tamil Nadu at large. As the Municipal Corporation, we would be happy to extend any support needed to enable and scale this program to ensure that recyclable waste like used Tetra Pak cartons can be efficiently recovered and recycled.”

“We are grateful to the Municipal Corporation of Chennai for extending their support to our latest collection program. Tetra Pak cartons being paper-based & recyclable is a valuable resource for recyclers across the country, thereby playing an important role in promoting a circular economy. We aim to collect over 13 million cartons from 3 zones in one year, with a potential to scale across other zones over time,” said Ashutosh Manohar, managing director, Tetra Pak South Asia.

The program will be executed by Earth Recycler, a well-known Waste Management company based in Chennai. They provide waste management solutions and services to corporate organizations, educational institutions, residential apartments, urban local bodies, and the general community at large.

“As an organization, our mission is to ensure that everything that can be recycled, gets recycled, and not even the smallest fraction of waste gets diverted to a landfill. We are pleased to be kicking off this collection program for used beverage cartons because this is one category of waste whose immense recycling potential is not fully realized yet. Through this project we will be able to collect these cartons, in turn helping augment the income of waste trade while also creating a circular economy,” adds Mohammed Dawood, founder, Earth Recycler.

Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based, recyclable and increasingly being recycled with support from the ecosystem nurtured by Tetra Pak over the past 18 years, working closely with various stakeholders including urban local bodies, NGOs, brand-owners, academia, and consumers. Tetra Pak has supported the collection of used cartons in Chennai for over two years through various programs. One such program called Take Me Back aims to raise awareness about the recyclability of paper-based Tetra Pak cartons, encouraging them to deposit their used cartons set up across the city.