Tetra Pak reports progress on C02 goals

Tetra Pak today joined with 20 partner companies who make up the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Climate Savers program to reaffirm the company's commitment to achieving its five-year carbon reduction goals and to help mobilize business action around climate change mitigation policies.

At a media briefing on Capitol Hill, held in conjunction with WWF's 2009 Climate Savers Summit in Washington, D.C., Tetra Pak presented a progress report against its goal to reduce carbon emissions 10 percent by 2010 in absolute terms--a voluntary goal accepted by WWF in 2006 when Tetra Pak was invited to become a Climate Savers partner.

Among the results shared, Tetra Pak noted a 12 percent reduction of carbon emissions compared to 2005 despite double digit production growth during the same period. In 2008 energy use was a similar level as in 2002, despite a 32 percent increase in packaging production over the same period.

"We're proud to be on track to reduce our carbon footprint around the globe and meet our ambitious emissions reduction goal," said Mario Abreu, Director Recycling and Supply Chain Support, Environment, Tetra Pak. "We believe that climate change is a global responsibility. It is an integral part of our business and our company culture to protect resources for future generations."

Package choice can have a significant impact on the environment and carton packages have a comparably small environmental footprint across their entire life cycle, starting with the fact that they are primarily made from carton board, a renewable resource. They are also lightweight, which provides supply chain and transportation fuel efficiencies, and they are recyclable. Tetra Pak is also working with the Forest Stewardship Council to achieve an ambitious goal of sourcing paperboard only from chain of custody certified board mills by 2015.

"Tetra Pak, like other Climate Savers companies, is leading by example and demonstrating that meaningful emissions reductions are both possible and make good business sense," said Matthew Banks, senior program officer for business and industry at World Wildlife Fund. "This leadership is critical in a year when world leaders work to pass comprehensive policy to mitigate climate change while addressing economic concerns."

As an additional action in support of its commitments toward climate change, this year Tetra Pak will, for the first time, shut down all non-essential operating equipment and turn out lights at facilities and offices across the U.S., Canada and Mexico in observance of Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28.

Source: Tetra Pak

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