Tetra Pak is investing €60 million (AUD103m) in a new pilot plant in Lund, Sweden, to advance development of an aseptic carton material that replaces the traditional aluminium foil layer with a paper-based barrier.
The company says the technology simplifies the carton structure from three materials to two, paper and polymers, with the aim of improving recyclability and increasing the renewable content of cartons. According to Tetra Pak, the change increases paper content to around 80 per cent, and when combined with plant-based polymers, can lift traceable renewable content to up to 92 per cent, cutting the carbon footprint by up to 43 per cent.
PKN spoke to Sonalika Sharma, packaging portfolio director at Tetra Pak Oceania, who said material simplification was central to improving circularity outcomes in Australia and New Zealand.
“At its core, this innovation is about advancing circularity through material simplification,” she said. “By creating an alternative barrier, the carton has a simpler material structure, with a higher proportion of renewable, fibre-based content.”
Sharma said the simplified structure supports better alignment with existing recycling infrastructure in both markets, particularly at the material separation stage, and could help future-proof cartons as recycling technologies evolve.
“By reducing material complexity, the ambition is to make cartons easier to process within mixed paper recycling systems, improve fibre recovery efficiency and quality, and increase confidence and participation from recyclers,” she said.
She added that the change would not require different behaviour from consumers, but could encourage more recyclers to collect, sort and process cartons over time.
On performance, Sharma said the paper-based barrier had been designed to deliver equivalent protection to aluminium in aseptic packaging.
“The aluminium layer has traditionally played a key role in protecting shelf-stable products from oxygen and light,” she said. “This barrier is designed to deliver equivalent protection by preventing oxygen ingress, preserving product quality and food safety, and operating within existing aseptic processing conditions.”
She said the technology was currently being applied to selected beverage categories to allow for testing across different formulations, climates and storage conditions.
The Lund pilot plant will support barrier creation, packaging material development and filled package production. Tetra Pak said the site was chosen due to its proximity to existing research and material development activities, collaboration with Lund University, and access to testing facilities at the MAX IV Laboratory.
The paper-based barrier technology was first used commercially in 2023 with a dairy customer in Portugal. In December 2025, Tetra Pak applied the barrier to juice packaging in collaboration with García Carrión in Spain.
Sharma said the timing for availability in Australia and New Zealand would depend on customer trials, regulatory and food-contact approvals, manufacturing readiness and the availability of the barrier across different carton formats.
“Based on this progress, we would hope the technology becomes available in our market in the coming years,” she said.
The investment forms part of Tetra Pak’s broader commitment to invest around €100 million annually through to 2030 in the development of packaging solutions focused on renewable materials and emissions reduction.
