The key to boosting recycling rates is a mix of consumer awareness, infrastructure and regulation.

Q and A with Charles Heaulme, vice president of Tetra Pak for Europe

https://www.politico.eu/pro/ By Paola Tamma - 5/7/18, 11:00 AM CET

Tetra Pak’s tetrahedron packages are a global hit, but they’re also causing a headache for recyclers. That’s because they’re made with a mix of paper, plastic and aluminum, and that makes them difficult to sort into the correct waste stream. With the European Commission pushing to improve recycling rates, the company is trying to stay ahead of regulators. Last month it announced it will come up with a paper alternative to the plastic straws attached to Tetra Pak cartons, which Brussels looks set to ban. The company in January made commitments in support of the Commission’s Plastics Strategy — including switching to more bio-based plastic alternatives — as part of an effort to avoid being grouped with rivals using plastic containers.

“We believe that banning the use of specific packaging is not the right solution, because it has never been demonstrated that by banning something you get the root cause solved,” said Charles Heaulme, Tetra Pak’s vice president, speaking to POLITICO at Europen’s 25th anniversary event in late April.

You said in the future we won’t need less packaging but more. Why?

In just 10 years, we will be 1 billion more on the planet. Obviously there will be a need for more packaging. And the macro economy is improving. The objective of Tetra Pak is that no country is left without food being safe and packaged in the best way. The second challenge is that growth is not going to be linear in every country. Overall in Europe with an aging population trend, we are not looking at a population increase. People today are not consuming as before. The younger generations want to follow trends and at the same time be an individual. That’s why we are seeing an incredible multiplication of trends and products.

Tetra Pak’s own target is to recycle 40 percent of its packages by 2020, compared to 20 percent in 2010. Where are you now?

In Europe we are at 47 percent recycling, and worldwide we are at 25 percent. When we are thinking of recycling, it is important to not just consider the ratio. It can go up extremely fast or stay flat depending on two aspects: consumer responsibility and collective infrastructure. In Germany, more than 80 percent of beverage cartons get recycled. We have a population which has been educated in a responsible way toward the environment and we have the infrastructure both in terms of the legislation and capacity of collection and recycling. Raising recycling rates requires the engagement of everyone in society — legislators, consumers and industry. We can bring those rates up quickly if waste collection in Europe contributes. Today unfortunately that’s the biggest hurdle we see in recycling.

With Tetra Pak it’s a bit of challenge to understand which bin consumers should use — plastics or paper? 

It varies from country to country. You have countries where beverage cartons are collected together with plastic and metal cans. In other countries, like Italy, Sweden and Finland, it is collected with the paper stream. But in the end, citizens in any country should know where this is collected.We are using our package to communicate about sustainability. It can be about how to fold the package after usage, where you need to sort it, the environmental advantage of our packages — which sometimes is not so well-known. When you consider the entire life-cycle of a package from the raw material to the recycling, the beverage carton is the most performing of all packaging.

From 2020, producers will have to pay different fees for end-of-life treatment depending on how recycling-friendly their packaging is. Is there a problem for materials which are multilayered and therefore hard to recycle?

We are not against it at all as long as fees are well used and for the right purpose. But we have to be careful with the criteria used for the modulation of fees. So far, it is said it will be based on recyclability. We are saying: Is this the right criteria? The real question is on climate change, to analyze the life-cycle impact of each package type, and here carton packaging has demonstrated to be among the best performers. Therefore eco-modulation of fees — why not? — but with the right criteria.

Can your cartons be entirely made without oil-based plastics, including screw-tops?

We already have a beverage package for pasteurized milk which is entirely made of renewable sources. The next step is to make the aseptic package fully renewable — the one difference is the aluminum layer used for protecting contents from light and oxygen allowing a much longer shelf life. We are not there yet but we have an ongoing innovation process which is already giving very good results. Within the next couple of years I am confident we will get there.

The Commission is planning an initiative on single-use plastics, targeting food and beverage containers. What would you wish to see in it, and what are you afraid of?

We believe that banning the use of specific packaging is not the right solution, because it has never been demonstrated that by banning something you get the root cause solved. If we focus on straws, we really believe it is all about something that is not done — educating consumers. On our packaging, we are communicating that consumers have to put the straw back into the package. And by having the package collected for recycling, the straw is recycled as well. Rather than banning or prohibiting the use, we have to address it from a legislative point of view. As long as you have collection, the value of recycling increases. It is not by going after straws that you’re going to solve plastic litter.

Author: Paola Tamma