Tetra Pak ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
What drew you to the role of managing director ? How do Tetra Pak ’ s values and green ambitions align with your own ? I have always had an interest in the climate and take the time to consider my own carbon footprint . Coming from an engineering background , I was passionate about joining an organization that wants to make a positive impact on society by continuously innovating . In my role , I bring a technical perspective as well as experience of working on the frontline , supporting management and wider teams as we seek to reduce the impact of packaging on the environment .
Is there one piece of advice – businessrelated or otherwise – that has aided your career ? Could you share it with our readers ? The best piece of advice I received was to focus on the detail . Especially working in the push towards a circular economy – because innovation in packaging requires so much expertise and a willingness to explore different options . It has helped me keep perspective and push forward with small changes , as I know they will contribute to something greater .
Could you tell us about innovation at Tetra Pak ? How does this play a part in its wider sustainability strategy ? And how important is new material sourcing and exploration ? Innovation has been central to Tetra Pak , as a business , for almost as long as we ’ ve been in operation , and it ’ s something that we place at the heart of what we do today . We ’ re proud to have been involved with several ‘ world first ’ innovations across our
We remain committed to helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals history . For instance , the introduction of aseptic packaging , which is considered amongst the greatest innovations of the 20 th century , has revolutionized the shelf-life and delivery of safe and nutritious food .
Today , businesses are facing a host of new challenges , many of which are linked to the delivery of safe food in a way that promotes circularity and reduces overall impact on the environment . Today ’ s consumers are increasingly environmentally conscious , and , as a society , we have far more information about the serious nature of environmental threats facing the planet .
We know that if we are to decarbonize the food system then we must work alongside industry partners , governments and customers . For Tetra Pak these efforts have included supporting local councils and governments to update their recycling infrastructure to include cartons . Alongside this , we have also conducted recent tests of a fiber-based barrier to replace the aluminum layer in our cartons , which will mark a huge step towards developing an aseptic package that is fully renewable , recyclable and carbon neutral . We have also worked on the introduction of plant-based tethered caps to reduce plastic littering .
You recently commented that “ no single solution will lead to the decarbonization of our food systems today .” Could you go into a little more detail , and inform our readers about the kind of multi-pronged and dynamic approach you envision ? Today ’ s food systems are particularly complicated ; a combination of environmental pressures and food waste is compounding the necessity to deliver safe and nutritious food to those who most need it . This means
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