Tetra Pak packaging recycling – Serbia on the world map of pilot projects

Tetra Pak is globally known for the production of solutions for food processing and packaging, and the fact that "tetrapak packaging" has become a synonym for "carton packaging for beverages“, which is the proper name for the material we use every day, speaks of this company`s position.

As a global company, founded more than 70 years ago, with the goal that "packaging should save more than it costs", Tetra Pak still respects this philosophy, putting its motto into practice to "protect what is good" today by protecting food, people and the planet.

This approach implies the integration of sustainable business goals into all aspects of this company`s business, whether it is about saving resources and energy and increasing efficiency in its own business, using renewable and plant-based materials in the production of packaging, or helping to achieve sustainability goals to their clients by solutions they provide them. All these efforts were recognized by the global business community in mid-2021, when Tetra Pak was included in the list of Top 50 leaders in the fields of sustainability and climate change.

Tetra Pak`s comprehensive approach to sustainability, in addition to the procurement of materials and its own operations, also includes a step further – activities related to the improvement of the process of collection and recycling of carton packaging for beverages after its use.

Many useful products can be created from used carton packaging, which has been properly disposed of and sent for recycling. All layers of Tetra Pak packaging are recyclable, and the key issue regarding the recycling of Tetra Pak packaging is not technology or recycling capacities, but the success of the waste collection and management process, on which the volume of packaging that will be sent for recycling directly depends. For example, in Serbia, the recycling of Tetra Pak packaging is possible in the facilities of Brzan Plast in BatoCina and Feplo in Cacak, but the capacities of both of these factories are currently insufficiently used, because of the insufficient amount of collected used packaging. At the same time, we are witnessing that citizens are increasingly looking ways to properly handle household waste, but in many local governments they don’t have the opportunity to do so.

The problem of efficient collection and separation of used Tetra Pak packaging is not exclusive only to Serbia – on the contrary, with the exception of a few countries that have significant rates of collection and recycling of cardboard packaging, such as Canada or Belgium, numerous economies are currently considering system and regulatory improvements, which would adequately respond to the challenges of growing pollution, limited natural resources and climate changes.

What Tetra Pak in Serbia is particularly proud of is the fact that some of the pilot projects for the collection of packaging waste that this company helps around the world are also being implemented in Serbia. The first such project was launched in Kragujevac, in the middle of 2021, and recently the citizens of Zrenjanin got the opportunity to dispose of cans, glass, plastic, and Tetra Pak packaging in one of the 12 locations in that city, as part of the project "Smart Recycling – Zrenjanin". By disposing of packaging marked with the "Recycle" sticker and registering in the application, citizens have the opportunity to obtain discounts in local Idea and Roda markets, as well as to receive some of the prizes that will be awarded every month by one of the project`s partner companies to the most successful recyclers. Next month, Tetra Pak will award the most valuable Zrenjanin recyclers with valuable gift vouchers.

– We are glad that the citizens respond very well to such initiatives, says Tanja Basta, Market Sustainability Expert for Eastern Europe at Tetra Pak.: – This is another confirmation that a comprehensive and modern deposit system for the collection of packaging waste, which includes as many types of packaging material and sizes as possible, is well received by the local community, and we believe that the establishment of such system at the national level would quickly lead to significant improving of recycled packaging rates in Serbia.

In addition to the satisfaction and motivation of citizens, the comprehensive deposit system, for introduction of which Tetra Pak advocates, would enable lower costs per unit of disposed packaging, greater quantities of quality raw materials that would be available to recycling plants and greater motivation for further investments in this industry, while approaching to achieving the goals of the circular economy at the same time. In this way, through future appropriate legislation, Serbia would have the opportunity to quickly reach the ambitious goals for recycling of used packaging, which for Tetra Pak packaging at the European level amount to 90% collected and 70% recycled packaging by 2030.