Tetra Pak wins two awards for environmental innovation

At the World Beverage Innovation Awards ceremony held last week in Nuremberg, Germany, Tetra Pak (Lund, Sweden) collected not one, but two awards. The Tetra Top with Separable Top took the award for Best Carton and Tetra Pak's bio-based caps were first in the Best Closure category. These awards, which have been organized every year since 2003 by FoodBev Media for the global beverage industry, are presented annually in 26 categories.

Within the Best Carton category, the judges recognized the benefits Tetra Top with Separable Top brings to consumers: the convenience of a bottle, the environmental profile of a carton, and a contemporary look and feel. Designed to facilitate sorting and recycling, the plastic top can be easily separated from the sleeve with a press of the thumb, thanks to the pre-cut perforation on the outer layer of the cardboard.

In the Best Closure category, Tetra Pak's bio-based caps were highlighted for their innovative use of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) derived from sugar cane, instead of traditional fossil fuels. Global delivery of these renewable caps is expected to reach 1.7 billion in 2014, a 45% increase over the previous year. The success of these bio-based caps is seen as a major step toward the company's ambition of developing the industry's first fully renewable package.

"We live in an age where consumers expect companies to offer products that enable them to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors in their everyday lives with relative ease", said Charles Brand, Vice President Marketing & Product Management at Tetra Pak. "We are honored to have achieved these accolades, which represent many hours of working side by side with customers to develop innovations that meet the expectations of today's environmentally conscious consumers".

Now in its 11th year, the World Beverage Innovation Awards have grown to become the world's largest beverage competition. Last year, more than 400 brands participated from more than 40 different countries. This year's contestants included, among others, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Arla Foods, Carlsberg, and Evian. The awards were presented on Nov. 12 during a ceremony at Europe's major beverage exhibition, the three-day BrauBevaile held in Nuremberg, Germany.