Tetra Pak Thailand urges improvements to F&B packaging as regulations tighten

Tetra Pak is emphasizing the importance of sustainable solutions for F&B manufacturers in Thailand in line with tightening regulations and consumer demands for circular packaging. 

The packaging giant recently hosted a webinar titled “Future-ready businesses with sustainability solutions from Tetra Pak,” sharing insights into how businesses can adopt new technologies and practices to improve their operations and address evolving sustainability requirements and regulations.

At the event, Praeporn Amornpanupan, product group director, Packaging, alongside Patinya Silsuphadol, director of sustainability at Tetra Pak, highlighted the urgent need for food and beverage manufacturers to integrate sustainability solutions related to carbon reduction, recycling and waste management.

The EU has set global standards for the management of packaging waste with a comprehensive approach, in particular, the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

The regulation sets out measures to prevent packaging waste, improve the efficiency of packaging use, promote reuse and recycling, and set strict requirements for packaging used on the EU market. It also emphasizes using a life cycle approach to packaging waste and promotes a circular economy.

Similarly, Thailand is moving toward circular goals, including those set out in the Second National Action Plan on Plastic Waste 2022–2027. Its government has drafted a Sustainable Packaging Act based on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle, which aims to directly involve food and beverage manufacturers in the process of properly managing their packaging, with a focus on packaging reuse, recycling and the adoption of sustainable packaging solutions.

Thailand consumers demand greener

Tetra Pak cites data suggesting that 74% of consumers in Thailand are more concerned about sustainability than two years ago.

The packaging giant commits to helping businesses achieve their sustainability goals through a comprehensive four-step approach: avoiding resource waste, recovering energy and water usage, increasing operational efficiency and making production processes environmentally neutral throughout the value chain.

Tetra Pak’s packaging solutions are responsibly sourced from renewable resources. Its packaging paper is FSC certified and fully recyclable. The supplier also aims to further drive the circular economy by introducing sustainable packaging caps, increasing the use of recycled and renewable plant-based materials and “innovative” packaging designs that were featured at IFT First 2024.

Tetra Pak recently released its sustainability report for operations in the Middle East, presenting its advances toward a circular economy. Highlights include launching a range of postbiotic food solutions for beverages, dairy products, ice cream and cheese and reducing GHG emissions across the value chain by 20% from a 2019 baseline.

Last November, Tetra Pak collaborated with Portuguese brand Lactogal to launch the first beverage carton with a renewable barrier layer made from paperboard, resulting in a packaging solution that uses up to 90% renewable materials and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 33%.