Tetra Pak has more than doubled the number of its packages sold around the world carrying Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification between 2010 and this year.
The company has announced that more than 20 billion of its packages sold around the world this year have used FSC-certified paperboard sourced from responsibly managed forests and other controlled sources.
This compares to 8.5 billion FSC-certified Tetra Pak packages in 2010, and comes five years after it launched its first package with FSC certification, for Sainsbury's supermarket in the UK, in 2007.
Tetra Pak said the certification labels are now being carried by brand owners and retailers in 39 countries. In Australia, it said, three of its customers are launching products in FSC-labelled cartons: Freedom Foods' Australia’s Own Organic almond, rice and soy milk; Emma & Tom’s new one litre long life package for its Quenchers with Benefits range of juice products; and Harvey Fresh’s two litre milk and juice products.
“Our long term goal is to offer all our customers the option to use FSC-certified material for their cartons,” the managing director of Tetra Pak Oceania, Noel Ayre, said.
“Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and are seeking sustainably sourced products. We are excited to work with our customers on the introduction of FSC-certified cartons for their products.”
The company also cited a recent survey of 6600 consumers in 10 countries conducted on its behalf by Euromonitor, with almost a half of respondents saying that the absence of information about the environmental profile of a product was an issue in their purchasing behaviour. Arout the same proportion said they found on-pack logos such as the FSC certification helpful in understanding the environmental impact of beverage packages.
“By displaying FSC labelling on their packages, Tetra Pak is helping raise awareness of the important role that responsible forest management plays in assuring the economic, social and environmental viability of one of the earth’s richest resources,” the FSC's business development director, Marcelle Peuckert, said.
Freedom Foods' Almond Milk has led adoption of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified packaging from Tetra Pak in Australia.
