The challenge of climate & decarbonisation
We acknowledge that the packaging industry has a role in driving climate change action. Global food systems account for more than one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions1 and are key to tackling the climate crisis.
With an expanding population, the demand for food is rising fast. But increasing food production has the risk of putting more pressure on limited resources like land, water and energy – impacting nature and warming the planet even more1. That is why the food industry needs to urgently step up to this challenge and reduce its environmental impact at every step of the food value chain.
Report: driving change to decarbonise the UK food system
Combining primary research with the views of industry voices and government stakeholders, this report explores the challenges and potential solutions to decarbonising the UK’s food system.
Decarbonising our portfolio
Since the launch of our package with plant-based polymers, we have steadily increased the use of plant-based plastics over fossil-based plastics, which contributes to an even lower carbon footprint of our packaging2. Continuing this development, we sold 17.6 billion packages and 10.8 billion caps made with plant-based plastic in 2021, resulting in 96 kilotonnes of CO2 saved compared to the CO2that would have been emitted using fossil-based plastic3. Our ambition is to develop the world’s most sustainable food package – a carton made solely of responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials that are fully renewable and fully recyclable4.
1Arthur, C. (2021). New research shows food system is responsible for a third of global anthropogenic emissions. Source: Unido.org
2Ifeu. (2020). Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Tetra Pak carton packages and alternative packaging system for beverages and liquid food on the European market. Source: Institut fur Energie – und Unweltforschung Heidelberg
ACE. (2021). Circular Analytics: Supporting Evidence – Environment Performance of Beverage Cartons. Source: The Alliance For Beverage cartons and the Environment. Sources: Tetra Pak Lifecycle Assessment
3Based on climate accounting internal calculations considering 59-kilo tonnes of plant-based plastic purchased in 2021. To calculate the avoided emissions number, we use a third-party validated emission factor for the plant-based polymers.
4This means creating cartons that are fully made of renewable or recycled materials, that are responsibly sourced, thereby helping to protect and restore our planet's climate, resources and biodiversity; contributing towards carbon-neutral production and distribution; are convenient and safe, therefore helping to enable a resilient food system; and are fully recyclable.
5Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2022). Circular Economy Introduction. Source: Ellenmacarthurfoundation.org, What is a circular economy? | Ellen MacArthur Foundation
6Sustainable food systems mean growing, producing, processing, packaging, distributing and consuming food without negatively impacting the planet. Retrieved from OECD. (2019). Accelerating Climate Action. Source: OECD iLibrary.