Tetra Pak half way to sourcing 100% renewable electricity

The firm had sourced a fifth of its electricity from renewables before joining the RE100 initiative in 2016, spurring it to install onsite solar arrays at its factories and to purchase International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs).

These measures have seen the proportion of renewable power in Tetra Pak’s global electricity mix increase more than twofold over a two-year period, with all of its factories in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and South Africa now running on 100% renewable electricity. In total, 17 of Tetra Pak’s major sites now run solely on renewable electricity.

Tetra Pak’s vice president for sustainability, Mario Abreu, said the Swedish firm is now “exploring opportunities” to expand its portfolio of onsite solar arrays to meet its RE100 commitment, after announcing that it will soon generate an additional 1MW of renewable electricity from PV panels on one of its factories in Thailand.

Abreu added that by purchasing I-RECs, in addition to investing in onsite arrays, the corporate is investing in infrastructure developments which will help not only Tetra Pak, but other companies and energy users, source more renewable power.

According to the latest iteration of the company’s sustainability report, Tetra Pak’s total electricity use in 2016 was 845,058 MWh, out of which 298,374 MWh was renewable electricity.

Carbon action

Tetra Pak’s progress on renewables comes as the company, which is widely known for its bio-based cartons, strives towards a science-based target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 58% by 2040, against a 2016 baseline.

Abreu said that sourcing renewable power will be an “important part” of meeting this lofty aim, which was the first in the packaging sector to be approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) in line with the Paris Agreement commitment of limiting the global temperature increase below 2C.

During an exclusive interview, Abreu previously told edie that committing to the RE100 had enabled Tetra Pak to collaborate with other member corporations to share best practice, while setting a science-based target had helped the firm understand how much it could contribute to global emissions reductions.

Sarah George