Tetra Pak has set 2030 net zero emission goals for itself and 2050 net Zero emission goals for its supply chain. Juhi Gupta, Director Sustainability - Tetra Pak, South Asia, in an interview shares how this is being achieved. Excerpts:
How much of your waste are you able to recycle? What is your circular economy roadmap?
Typically, in India, like other developing nations, you have systemic issues like the absence of adequate infrastructure when it comes to waste collection and recycling. Core of the problem is that there is no segregation of waste at source. A recent report by TERI states that the recycling rate for used carton is approx 62 percent in the 20 cities surveyed by them. Extrapolated to the entire country, their estimates reveal a 45 percent recycling rate. We are working with our NGO partners to improve practices of segregation of waste at source for consumers and also to create awareness among waste pickers so that used cartons do not get into the landfill, instead goes for recycling, where they truly belong.
As a responsible corporate citizen, what sets you apart from the competition?
For Tetra Pak this is not a regulation/ compliance driven strategy. For example, if you look at EPR regulations, they have been in force only in the past few years, but Tetra Pak has created an eco-system for collection and recycling over last 2 decades. Even if you see the regulation, the post-consumer cartons collection and recycling, apply on the brand owners, while we as a producer, are liable for our factory waste but voluntarily we have been doing collection and recycling of used cartons for long. So, it is not just regulations, but we realise it is the right thing to do, which is what sets us apart from our competition.
How far have you been able to meet your set targets?
It has been a mixed bag. As these are long-term goals, we are tracking them year on year. In the decarbonisation of our value chain, Scope 1&2, GHG emissions directly under our control, account for about 1 percent only, while 99 percent of our emissions are coming from our value chain-both downstream and upstream. We are working with our suppliers, who account for around 37 percent of our emissions, from the raw material sourcing & transportation, to ensure that by 2030 they cut CO2 emission by 50 percent from 2019 levels. Through supply chain contracts we are ensuring that certain action plans are being taken to achieve set goals. In our own operations, we are doubling down on solar capacities
We are following the STBi (Science based targets initiative) and have set 2030 net zero goals for ourselves and 2050 net zero goals for our supply chain. Tetra Pak has reduced its operational footprint [Scope 1 and 2] by 70 percent since 2010.