Switzerland-headquartered global food packaging company Tetra Pak and Saudi paper manufacturer Obeikan Paper Industries have entered into a joint venture to recycle used beverage cartons, it was announced on Sunday.
Tetra Pak’s Sustainability Director for Greater Middle East & Africa Rodney Reynders told a media round table in Cairo that the company will invest about $1 million in the recycling unit, which will convert beverage cartons into value-added products.
The recycling plant, he continued, would be the first of its kind in the region with an annual capacity of 8,000 tonnes, adding that commercial operations will start by end-2019 and the plant is expected to achieve 50 percent capacity utilisation by end-2020.
Reynders told Thomson Reuters Projects that the project forms part of the company’s commitment to promoting low-carbon circular economy.
“Tetra Pak is investing €80 million in development of paper straws, tethered caps, and other solutions that replace fossil-fuel based plastics straws during the period from 2019 to 2021,” he disclosed.
He said in the Middle East and Africa region, 60,000 tonnes of used beverage cartons were recycled in 2018, and the company intends to expand its work even more in the future
He also pointed out that Tetra Pak’s approach to sustainability reporting has evolved significantly over the past two decades from a focus on environmental commitments and actions in its first report in 1999 to evaluating every part of the business and its impact, including societal and supplier governance.
In 2010, Tetra Pak had set a goal to double its recycling rate to 40 percent by 2020, according to the company website.
Source : Zawya.com
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