BillerudKorsnäs & Tetra Pak work towards 100% recyclable packaging

Through close and enduring collaboration BillerudKorsnäs and Tetra Pak aim to push the figure of renewable material from the wood fiber in carton packages towards 100%. Already today the figure is about 70%. Innovations to further increase the sustainability of packages are the long top of the agenda for both companies.

"Our mission is to challenge conventional packaging for a sustainable future. 70% renewable is a good start, and the only way that we can solve the major sustainability challenges we face is to do it together", says Malin Ljung Eiborn, director of Sustainability and Public Affairs.

Collaborative innovation takes the form of several defined projects where experts from the two companies work together. BillerudKorsnäs also work together under the auspices of Treesearch, a Swedish collaboration platform for fundamental research, knowledge, and competence building in new materials and specialty chemicals from forest raw material. It involves academia, industry, private foundations, and the Swedish government and aims to turn pioneering fundamental research into high-tech innovations to meet the climate challenge.

"Treesearch is important because we can get advanced research on new materials and new applications, but also because we have an opportunity to build competence, with skilled people coming into the industry who will be able to develop more innovative products in the future," says Eiborn.

BillerudKorsnäs and Tetra Pak are long-term partners in the quest to achieve a package that is a hundred percent from renewable resources, it said.

"We want a package that is hundred percent from renewable resources. We need a lot of innovation to find these new materials that can create a good barrier. We have to act together to transform the industry. And there are so many challenges, so much innovation to do", says Eva Gustavsson, Vice President Materials & Package at Tetra Pak.

Tetra Pak is one of the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions companies. Working closely with its customers and suppliers, the company offers safe, innovative, and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries. With over 25,000 employees worldwide, the company believes in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business.