Tetra Pak today announced pans to extend its supply of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) cartons into Germany by 3.3bn within the next 12 months. The scheme began this month and the figure represents around 50 per cent of the company’s carton supply into the country.
“Our ultimate goal is to have all supply certified to the highest standard, currently set by FSC. We are committed to increasing the number of Tetra Pak beverage cartons made from FSC-certified material as the availability of certified board increases,” said Sven Weidemann, managing director of Tetra Pak Germany and Switzerland.
Since the introduction of the world’s first FSC-labelled liquid food cartons in the UK in 2007, the company has introduced the green cartons in China, France and the Benelux countries, supplying more than 2.3bn globally every year.
Energy efficiency
Beverage can maker Ball Corporation also unveiled the results of its eco-scheme as it said it had achieved significant reductions in energy consumption thanks to a €5-investment in its European plants and a €36m programme world-wide in 2008 and 2009.
Ball Packaging Europe said it had cut natural gas consumption by 11 per cent between 2007 and 2009. The company also modernised its pressure-compressors – some of the most energy-intensive equipment in it can facilities. Last year, it invested around €500,000 each in installing a so-called adsorption rotor in the afterburning plant at its facilities in Hermsdorf, Germany and Bierne, France. This system is used to clean the air in the afterburning process using significantly less energy.
Over the next two years, the firm saud it planned to reduce its electricity use in Europe by a further 8eight percent, while also lowering natural gas and water consumption by 4.9 percent each per 1,000 cans produced.
“We are working systematically to improve and control our energy and resource efficiency, define objectives and initiate programs to make both our production processes and the business as a whole more sustainable,” says Björn Kulmann, Manager Sustainability at Ball Packaging Europe.