Tetra Pak unveils recycling collaborations and investments ahead of Earth Day

EcoVadis is the leading system for evaluating and rating global corporations’ suppliers, and has conducted over 45 000 assessments in 150 countries. Companies using EcoVadis’ services include Coca Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, L’Oréal and Heineken. “We’ve been working hard for some time on integrating sustainability issues into all aspects of our business instead of viewing them as separate issues. This is one of many testaments that Holmen and our paperboard mills have a very strong sustainability profile,” said Elin Swedlund, sustainability manager at the Holmen Group. Both Iggesund Mill and its sister facility in Workington were assigned Gold Standard, the highest rating. This means both paperboard mills are among the top one per cent of all companies assessed by EcoVadis, and among the top two per cent of paper industry companies assessed. Click read more below for additional detail.

Today, food packaging is predominantly plastic and recycling rates are relatively low. While, fibre-based packaging is widely recycled in non-food uses, the industry believes that by 2040 fibre-based packaging will approach circularity as technical development broadens its suitability for food packaging. Recycling rates for plastics are also projected to grow. “The packaging industry will focus research and development efforts to meet increasing consumer and regulatory demand for more recyclable and compostable packaging”, believes Maria Saloranta, Vice President, Strategy for UPM Specialty Papers. “As a result, we expect the share of fibre-based food packaging to grow, accelerated by breakthroughs in barrier properties and use of smart technologies that help relay information to consumers quickly and easily”. In the report, more than 200 global packaging professionals from across the value chain contributed to the first-ever collective assessment of key trends that are projected to drive sustainability in the food packaging industry by 2040. The industry anticipates the global share of polymer-based packaging will fall by half over the next two decades in sustainable food packaging applications, while fibre-based materials are projected to contribute to over 40% of all materials in use for food packaging.

J.D. Irving, Limited’s (JDI) tree improvement program started almost 40 years ago. The tree improvement process included selection of the best individuals in the region’s forests for qualities like rapid growth, tree straightness, and freedom from insect and disease problems. Traditional methods of grafting and planting these trees for quality seed production began at the Parkindale Seed Orchard. This process continues today, allowing for cross pollination among the best trees to produce well-adapted genetically-superior seed for use in the nurseries. Regular seed production is wind pollinated – trees in the orchard cross-pollinate as pollen is released into the air and lands on the receptive female flowers of another tree. JDI also produces seeds with two known parents for testing across the region. These trees also form the basis for the next generation of tree improvement.