Tetra Brik® Aseptic 200 Slim Leaf carton with paper-based barrier. — Photo courtesy of the company

Following successful commercial consumer testing in 2022, Tetra Pak and Lactogal have launched an aseptic beverage carton featuring a paper-based barrier.

This is part of a large-scale technology validation involving around 25 million packages, currently ongoing in Portugal. Made of approximately 80 per cent paperboard, the package increases renewable content to 90 per cent, reduces its carbon footprint by one third (33 per cent) and has been certified as Carbon Neutral by the Carbon Trust™.

The launch of the Tetra Brik® Aseptic 200 Slim Leaf carton with paper-based barrier provides a package that can be distributed under ambient conditions, while hitting the 90 per cent renewable content mark.

This brings Tetra Pak one step closer to its ambition of a beverage carton made solely from responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials, fully recyclable and carbon neutral. The company is aiming for industrial-scale production of the solution by 2025.

“The development represents a critical marker in our longstanding work to design beverage cartons for recycling – something that is continuing to set the pace for the paperisation of packaging. By joining forces with Lactogal, we’re now demonstrating that it’s possible to progress the sustainability of aseptic beverage cartons while securing food safety and enhancing food access,” said Ola Elmqvist, Executive Vice President Packaging Solutions, Tetra Pak.

In 2022, together with its industry partners in the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment, Tetra Pak jointly adopted Design for Recycling guidelines for beverage cartons, which provide technical guidance for optimised recycling of this type of packaging. More recently, the 4evergreen alliance added beverage packaging design guidance to its fibre-based circularity toolset. 4evergreen is a cross-industry platform that aims to boost the contribution of fibre-based packaging in a circular and sustainable economy, with Tetra Pak amongst its founding members.

In 2015, Tetra Pak was the first in the industry to introduce a package made fully from plant-based renewable materials - paperboard and sugarcane-based plastic. The Tetra Rex® Plant-based package, suitable for cold chain distribution, is fully renewable, and the company has delivered approximately 6.5 billion of these packages to customers around the world to date. — VNS