The Second Life of Tetra Pak Packaging

Beverage cartons are an environmentally sound packaging option. Not only are they manufactured mostly from renewable materials such as paperboard, (over 75%), they can also be easily recycled and turned into new products. When recycled beverage cartons are given a second life, we protect natural resources, reduce climate impact and contribute to local communities.

Our partnership with Italian tissue paper manufacturer Lucart is a great example of advancing our mutual interest. Since 2009 they collect used beverage cartons from Tetra Pak converting factories and consumer collection points in France and Italy, and use them to make tissue paper and dispenser products that are distributed across Europe.

To distinguish the product as one made from recycled materials, Lucart keeps the original ‘natural’ colour of the paper pulp, (the market is predominantly white tissue products), both for the consumer market (Grazie Natural brand) and for the ‘away from home’ market (Lucart Professional EcoNatural brand).

Since 2013, the Tetra Pak logo has been visible alongside the Fiberpack^® logo on the natural coloured recycled tissue products, demonstrating that they’re made from recycled used beverage cartons and thereby giving consumers confidence that these tissue products respect the environment.

In 2017, Lucart made improvements to its recycling processes to enable the full recovery of everything in a used beverage carton, including aluminum and polyethylene layers.

Francesco Pasquini, Corporate Sales & Marketing Director, Lucart added “Lucart has a firm belief in sound ethical and moral principles. We follow production models that respect and safeguard the regeneration capacities of the environment, and also the well-being of the community. We are happy to be working together with Tetra Pak to promote a fair and sustainable recycling partnership that protects forests, ensures water and energy savings, when compared to the process starting from wood, and the recovery of materials that would otherwise be lost. Our aim is to move the paper industry from adopting a linear economy to a circular economy, producing and marketing products that are both good for consumer health and the environment.”

Lucart has been awarded "Best in Class" at the Sodalitas Social Award 2016, the most prestigious award for corporate sustainability in Italy. This is in addition to receiving, for Lucart Professional EcoNatural project, the first prize at the EU Ecolabel Award May 2017 in Italy.

To date, Tetra Pak has implemented Lucart tissue paper in more than ten of our sites across Europe, with plans to expand this further across other European sites.