Renewable packaging for liquids

Packaging for liquids from renewable materials

Everyone knows the milk carton, but how many of us think about how environmentally friendly it is?

Choosing packaging made from renewable materials is sustainable development at its best. The traditional gable top carton so favoured by Finns is mainly made from paperboard.

In addition to the renewable raw material, the paperboard package has other significant environmental benefits. The package is logistically efficient and even though it weighs only 30 grams, or in other words 3 per cent of the weight of its contents, it protects the product admirably, preventing loss.

Usually in liquid packages, a thin plastic film made from fossil raw materials is used to protect the paperboard from moisture. The latest innovation from TetraPak, however, is made totally from renewable materials.

How it works in practise

The new paperboard packages have low-density polyethylene film (LPDE) and a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cork, both made from sugar cane.

The Tetra Rex® package, developed in collaboration with Braskem, one of the world’s leading biopolymer producers, became commercially available in 2015.

Economic opportunities and broader social significance

The discerning consumer wants ever more choice, even in liquid packaging. At the moment, the drinks packaging market is largely divided between plastic, aluminium cans and paperboard cartons.