Tetra Pak firms up environmental strategy

zoom

Tetra Pak Arabia has signed a landmark agreement with Middle East Paper Company (MEPCO) to recycle post consumer food and beverage cartons in Saudi Arabia.

The partnership will tackle the issue of recycling thousands of discarded cartons that get discarded by households and other establishments across Saudi Arabia on a daily basis.

The agreement was signed after successful trials were conducted to demonstrate the recyclability of Tetra Pak cartons by MEPCO.

"We strive to be an eco-friendly company committed to the principles of conservation and sustainability. MEPCO partnered with Tetra Pak Arabia as they are serious about addressing the environmental issues within their industry and their imprint on the Saudi society," said Abdullah Al-Moammar, managing director, Middle East Paper Company.

"We are very pleased to announce this partnership and look forward to recycling the cartons and raising consumer awareness about environmental issues."

MEPCO will collect, sort and recycle cartons for use as raw material in manufacturing paper. Beverage carton recycling will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites.

"We are excited about launching our recycling initiative, which is an industry first in the food and beverage carton segment, with the largest paper manufacturing company in the Middle East. With MEPCO as our partner we are confident that we can not only facilitate recycling, but also help drive environmental consciousness in the region," said Mohammed Angawi, Tetra Pak Arabia's environment manager.

The core product of Tetra Pak's packaging is wood fibre that comes from sustainable managed forests, a renewable resource. The Jeddah factory of Tetra Pak Arabia is ISO 14001 certified and the entire factory waste is recycled regularly. Globally the company recycles 21 billion cartons annually.

MEPCO produces nearly 340,000 tons of paper every year and also collects and recycles more than 379,000 tons of waste paper. The company plans to increase its capacity by September 2009 and will add 275,000 tons to its existing capacity. MEPCO's long-term aim is to reach a production capacity of 1 million MT by 2013.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.