SWITZERLAND – Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley and Valley partners Nestlé and Tetra Pak brought together 60+ Swiss and European partners at a nationwide event in Bern this week.
The joint project highlights some of the most promising approaches to sustainable packaging materials and drives further innovation through new collaborations.
Commenting on the event, Christina Senn-Jakobsen, chief executive officer of Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, says, “This event showcased the incredible potential of collaborative innovation.
“The challenges around sustainable packaging cannot be solved in silos. Collaboration between startups, established multinationals, research institutions, and governmental bodies is crucial.”
Rob Hoitink, Nestlé’s R&D Global Packaging lead, says, “Innovation is key to delivering our ambition of 100% recyclable or reusable packaging.
“Today’s event highlights the vital importance of R&D collaboration across the ecosystem to accelerate the development and implementation of new solutions.”
Gustavo Barros, director of R&D Partnerships at Tetra Pak, adds, “Collaboration with our customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders has been central to our sustainability journey.
“Our dedication to sustainability constantly drives us to explore new materials and technologies. Today, we’ve connected with several innovators whose research can help us take another step forward. We look forward to continuing these conversations.”
The Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley team will publish a report summarizing the key insights and learnings from the event to be made public.
Early this month, Tetra Pak launched its 25th Sustainability Report, highlighting significant progress in its sustainability agenda across five key areas: food systems, circularity, climate, nature, and social sustainability.
Launched on June 5, the United Nations’ World Environment Day, the FY23 Sustainability Report reveals a 20% reduction in GHG emissions across Tetra Pak’s value chain since 2019 and a 47% reduction within its operations.
This achievement puts Tetra Pak on track to meet its target of net-zero GHG emissions in its operations by 2030.
It supports the company’s long-term ambition to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across the entire value chain by 2050.
The company’s major milestone this year was the introduction of an aseptic beverage carton with a paper-based barrier, which reduced its carbon footprint by a third (33%).
This innovation is a significant step towards developing the world’s most sustainable food package.
It is backed by a €100 million (US$107.34m) investment in packaging research and development in 2023, with similar investments planned annually for the next five to ten years.
For all the latest packaging and printing industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
