Month: April 2023

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 13, 2023 /3BL Media/ – In the run up to the Earth Day (22nd April), Tetra Pak is highlighting some of its recent recycling initiatives that are helping to keep valuable materials in use and out of landfills. These initiatives are part of the investments that the company has been making for decades, to support collection and recycling infrastructure across the world, growing the number of recycling operations handling cartons worldwide from 40 in 2010 to more than 200 today.

According to the World Bank, global waste is predicted to increase 70% by 20501, unless immediate and significant action is taken. Despite its essential role in feeding a growing global population, food packaging can add to the issue if not properly collected and recycled.

Tetra Pak’s recent collaborations are focused on creating additional recycling capacity, increasing collection rates and ensuring that materials from post-consumer beverage cartons can re-enter the economy.

Markus Pfanner, Vice President Sustainability Operations at Tetra Pak, emphasizes that building a circular economy2 requires system-wide action and cooperation, supported by a regulatory framework that creates the conditions to turn challenges into opportunities.

Pfanner comments: “We need to move away from a linear ‘take-make-waste’ model towards a more connected circular economy. But being part of a circular solution can’t be driven singlehandedly by one individual or entity – scientists, policy makers, recyclers, industry players and citizens must work together.”

Paper-based beverage cartons are recyclable where adequate collection, sorting and recycling infrastructures are in place. Tetra Pak estimates that, globally, 1.2 million tonnes3 of beverage cartons have been collected and sent for recycling in 2021. But the picture is very fragmented across the globe and long-lasting change can only happen through collective action, transformational innovation and bold investments.

In 2022, Tetra Pak put nearly €30 million4 into projects worldwide, with plans to go further and invest up to €40 million annually over the next years, in line with its targets on collection and recycling of beverage cartons. As part of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), the company supports the industry ambition to increase the collection for recycling rate of beverage cartons to 90% and the recycling rate to 70%, in the EU, by 2030.

The company’s goals also include realising the national recyclability criteria for its packages in all countries where it operates, and fulfilling the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Commitment5, a common vision of a circular economy for plastics.

From expanding recycling capacity via multi-stakeholder cooperation, through boosting new market opportunities for recycled materials to re-inventing sorting for a more holistic waste management system, Tetra Pak’s recycling initiatives help turn all components of a used carton package into quality materials and goods. 

Christine Levêque, Vice President Collection and Recycling, Tetra Pak adds: “Three principles are guiding our circularity agenda: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. These hero initiatives showcase how innovation and a clear drive to change the status quo are key to keep quality materials in circulation and minimise the use of new ones. None of these developments could be realized without our 70 experts around the globe, who are collaborating every day with recyclers, local authorities and food and beverage manufacturers to drive the transformation needed to scale up collection and recycling.”

Media Contacts:

Lucia Freschi 
Tetra Pak 
Tel: +39 347 2632237 
lucia.freschi@tetrapak.com

1 https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/09/20/global-waste-to-grow-by-70-percent-by-2050-unless-urgent-action-is-taken-world-bank-report 

2 The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution – Ellen MacArthur

3 ‘Tonnes’ refers to metric tonnes.

4 Both OPEX and CAPEX investments

5 https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/global-commitment-2022/overview

Sometimes saving water starts with a simple question: What if?

Twenty-five years ago, when reverse osmosis (RO) technology was installed at our Coatings plant in Kankakee, IL, the decision was made to not recycle the water leftover from the filtering process. Scott Bassett, who works as senior improvement manager at the plant, decided recently to take another look.

“We were looking for ways to reduce our water footprint in our community by better managing water consumption and wastewater generation,” Bassett said. “We looked at our RO process and identified a cost-effective way to fully recycle the wastewater stream.”

The result was significant: a 30% reduction in the annual wastewater generated by the plant and 14% annual reduction in water consumption. The project also saves Dow $100,000 in costs annually.

Manufacturing the coating materials that go into paints requires highly purified water. The RO unit at the Kankakee plant filters municipal drinking water to create a stream of 70% treated water, suitable for manufacturing, and a stream of 30% reject water that contains concentrates such as minerals. Previously, this reject water had been incorporated into the plant’s wastewater stream.

In search of solutions to reduce the plant’s impact on local water generation and wastewater treatment assets, Bassett and his team asked a simple question: What if the high concentration reject stream was redirected to the front of the plant and into the general water supply? That would enable the RO concentrate water to be diluted enough to be suitable for the plant’s manufacturing processes.

“We performed calculations to determine how much of the waste stream could be recycled back into the site’s general utility water supply and determined that even if 100% of the concentrate steam was recycled, the RO unit would be able to produce acceptable quality process water,” Bassett said.

Given the recycled water’s higher mineral concentration, the site’s engineering team worked with its water treatment vendor to determine the impact of the recycle stream to other utilities, such as cooling towers and boiler systems. The vendor was able to make the necessary operational and chemical changes needed to manage the recycled stream.

In addition to reducing the potable water the plant uses and cutting back on wastewater in Kankakee, the project could have positive ripple effects across Dow. It has been identified as a best practice that other facilities can potentially leverage to find similar benefits. It has also been nominated for a Sustainable Environmental Engagement at Dow (SEED) Award for its positive impact on water sustainability.

“This is what happens when you look through the lens of sustainability – a positive sustainability outcome with economic benefits,” said Jeffrey Moretti, operations sustainability manager for Coatings and Performance Monomers. “There are projects like this out there. We just have to go find them.”

Basset agrees that progress around sustainability sometimes starts with a new mindset.

“The answer is simple – the right people got engaged in the right way to find a solution for reusing water,” he said. “Now we’re more efficient at the water we take in, and our water intensity has gone down.”

INDIA, April 13, 2023 /3BL Media/ – FedEx has announced plans to open its first Advanced Capability Community (ACC) in Hyderabad, India in 2023. The opening is part of a broader multi-year initiative to strengthen the recruitment and development of the company’s diverse workforce all around the world and build a more efficient and agile organization to enhance how we deliver for our customers.

FedEx plans to set up ACCs in different parts of the world in the future. Locations will be selected based on business needs and access to highly skilled talent pools. Each community is planned to be staffed by full-time FedEx team members across many functional areas who will provide shared services to support the technological and digital requirements of the entire FedEx enterprise. The digital innovation these communities will provide will enable the company to provide even greater value in the global supply chain ecosystem.

The India government’s focus on providing world-class infrastructure to build a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy makes the country an ideal location for the first ACC. The first ACC will be situated in Hyderabad and is anticipated to launch in the second half of 2023. The state of Telangana and its capital, Hyderabad, has been focusing on its engineering and digital enterprise talent pool to support international organizations that want to set up a presence here.

“FedEx is creating the world’s most flexible, efficient, and intelligent supply chain for our customers,” said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corp. president and chief executive officer. “The opening of our first Advanced Capability Community in India, a critical market for FedEx, will enable us to be faster, more flexible, and secure as we innovate digitally. This move supports our long-term vision to grow our Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa business as well as provide opportunities to develop technology for the benefit of our global customers.”

About FedEx Corp.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenue of $94 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively and innovating digitally under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 550,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. To learn more, please visit fedex.com/about.