These containers allow food to be protected from contamination by bacteria and other microbes, meaning products can sit on the shelf for months without going bad.Tetra Pak (New Zealand) Limited was founded in 1992. You can also find products like chopped tomatoes packaged in this way. Tetra Paks are the cartons you find in the shops that are used to package long-life milk, juice and various other liquids. We launched the brand with our 5 Litre bag in box solution which was our way of getting low footprint kiwi oat mlk into cafes around the country in a packaging type that wouldnt end up in our landfills (the cardboard box will be accepted for recycling by virtually all NZ waste management companies, and the plastic.

Here’s why.Tetra Paks are made up of a number of components which are layered: paperboard (made from wood), polyethylene (a type of plastic) and aluminum. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental performance of Tetra Pak cartons to a range of competitive packaging options that were available in Australia and New Zealand at the end of 2019.Once they’re used, Tetra Pak assure us that they can be recycled.That sounds great, but I was left wondering…how exactly are Tetra Paks recycled? Aren’t they made up of layers of different material? Is it even possible to separate them, and then what happens to the materials?After some investigating, my conclusion is that Tetra Paks aren’t a green solution at all. Photo courtesy of Tetra Pak, a thinkstep-anz client. Tetra Pak is one of three companies in the Tetra Laval Group - a private group that started in Sweden. Since the start in 1951 we have taken pride in providing the best possible processing and packaging solutions for food.

How are the post-recycled materials used? How much energy is involved in the process? The second is a UK/German video that runs for less than two minutes.Whilst you watch them, think about the following: How is a Tetra Pak Recycled?I’ve found not one, but two different videos that explain how Tetra Paks are recycled: how they are sorted into their component parts and what happens to these parts.The first is a somewhat cheesy video from India, which seems to be a Tetra Pak promotional video that lasts four minutes. However, that isn’t what happens.

Whatever the reason, it is turned into office paper.The other two layers of the Tetra Pak, polyethylene (plastic) and aluminium, cannot be separated by the recycling process and remain combined as a “polymer”. It is unclear whether this is because their paperboard needs to come from virgin sources to avoid contamination (as is the case with plastic), or whether the quality of the recycled paperboard isn’t high enough to make new cartons, or some other reason. Tetra Pak might have a goal to reach 100% FSC-wood, but it isn’t happening now.When this paperboard is recycled, it isn’t turned back into new Tetra Paks. 46 million containers made from non-renewable sources? That is a lot of wood. This equated to 32 billion FSC-labelled Tetra Paks reaching consumers in 2013.If 32 billion containers is 41%, then the amount of non-FSC wood Tetra Paks reaching consumers would be 46 million. As well as talking at length about Tetra Paks being recyclable, they inform us that Tetra Pak source FSC-certified wood for 41% of their cartons worldwide (2013 figure).

The two are very different. Thus it is a linear system, not a cycle – and anything that is linear cannot be sustainable long-term.The other thing to alwyas remember about recycling, is just because something can be recycled, it doesn’t mean that it will be recycled. These cartons use fresh plastic and aluminium to make their cartons, and the waste products becomes something else entirely. The question arises, is there a genuine demand for this product, or is there a market because of an abundant supply of this waste material?The fact that it gets reused and isn’t sent to landfill is great, except it doesn’t serve to make Tetra Paks a “green” solution.

Tetra Paks are turned into different post-consumer products, meaning a constant supply of fresh virgin material (wood, oil and aluminum) is needed for their manufacture. Even if they achieve this, there’s no getting away from the fact that Tetra Pak production is a linear process. The ConclusionTetra Pak may want to be sustainable they may want to use 100% FSC wood and achieve 100% recycling rates, but they still have a long way to go. In Denmark in 2007, 33% of Tetra Paks were incinerated: resources turned to toxic ash. Tetra Pak estimate global recycling was less than 25% in 2013.

For items like chopped tomatoes, use steel cans, which can also be truly recycled. You can find wine, milk, juice and oil in glass so there’s no need to buy Tetra Paks for these items. Glass can be truly recycled back into new glass products. Choose glass over Tetra Pak containers.

Plus shipping a product that is predominantly water around the globe has a huge carbon footprint! I dislike processed anything. Like most others, it also contains additives such as stabilisers and emulsifiers.” I would never advocate purchasing almond milk – aside from the waste that tetra paks generate, the almond content is low and they contain additives. Here are some of the points they raise and my thoughts on this:“Almonds are one of the healthiest foods you can eat.” Sounds good so far!“Alpro’s almond content is just 2% – the biggest ingredient is water, followed by sugar. Buy the largest size and decant into individual containers for lunches or when you’re out and about.Did you know that Tetra Paks contained plastic and aluminium, and that they cannot be truly recycled? Did any of the statistics surprise you? Are Tetra Paks something that you regularly buy? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this so please leave a comment below!Thanks for sharing this Danosaur – I’d love to share my thoughts on this! I think that the article has sensationalised the title and it is quite misleading. If you can’t avoid Tetra Paks, skip the single serve containers. Juicing your own fruit is far tastier than drinking pasteurized syrupy juice in cartons, and healthier too!

World production is 2.9 million tonnes and the USA produces 1.8 million tonnes, so there are a million+ tonnes of almonds not grown in the USA to choose from!“It takes 1.1 gallons (5 litres) of water to grow one almond.” There are 92 almonds in a cup, which makes a litre of almond milk. They are also grown in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. (Australia is the second largest almond producer). I exclusively purchase Australian almonds as they are local to me.

More than double! Not to mention the erosion, methane produced, disposal etc – whereas trees release oxygen into the atmosphere.“Its production is not concentrated in one area of the globe.” In 2014 California produced 2.14 billion pounds of almonds. (The original source quotes 250ml as requiring 255 litres). A litre of cow’s milk requires 1020 litres of water to produce, so it is still more water intensive.

It works rather like a large washing machine. – Although you are almost right, as the extent of separation operations for Aseptic cartons is very limited.Whilst it is difficult to do, it is usually achieved by using “Hydropulper” machinery. Trying to decide the most eco-friendly option is never easy! But overall, my choice is almond milk as I think it is a better environmental choice : )Under the heading “Plastic & Aluminium” in your original Blog, I noticed that you say that the plastic and aluminium cannot be separated by recycling processes.This is not entirely correct. So regardless of worldwide production distribution, California produces more milk than almonds, and milk has a greater environmental impact than almonds.Of course, we could avoid both and drink plain old water! And if we don’t live in America, choosing local nuts will always be better.

Although, I believe there was a Hydropulper plant operating in the Shoalhaven area some years ago. Eventually, the three components become separated: wood fibre plastic and aluninium.From what I have been able to find out, there is currently none of this happening in Australia at present.

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