The carbon footprint of a Tetra Pak® beverage carton in different markets

The primary packaging of the TBA Edge, i.e. the beverage packaging itself, weighs approx. 32 g. The weight is made up of approx. 29 g body and approx. 3 g lid. The so-called body is the coated cardboard part of the packaging, which consists of around 5% aluminium and around 17% polyethylene (LDPE) in addition to the cardboard. The lid is made of polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE).

The secondary packaging, also known as outer packaging, is made of cardboard. This protects the beverage packaging during transport and allows it to be stacked on a pallet. The weight of a carton varies between 105-250 g depending on the market and one carton contains 10-12 drinks packages.

780-800 packs are stacked per Euro pallet. The packaging is used in the non-chilled milk or juice segment and has a filling volume of 1000 mL.

Figure 1 shows the results of the TBA Edge beverage carton in the markets of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Europe, Italy and Germany. The studies in which the TBA Edge was analysed were published in the period 2018-2021. The grey bars show the net results in kg CO2 equivalents / 1000 L, which result from the difference between the loads and the credits with the CO2 absorption. The loads are made up of the materials cardboard, plastics for bodies, aluminium foil for bodies, as well as the lid, transport packaging, processing, filling, distribution, recycling & disposal and the separately shown biogenic CO2 emissions from recycling (Biogenic CO2 (recycling & disposal)). CO2 absorption and credits for material and energy recovered through recycling are deducted from the loads. 

The TBA Edge shows the lowest net result in Austria (32.24 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres). Austria is a country with a low landfill rate and therefore a high waste incineration rate and at the same time a good (low-emission) electricity mix. The net result in Germany is slightly higher (36.80 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres). Although no household waste is landfilled in Germany, it has a poorer electricity mix compared to Austria. If transport packaging is not taken into account, Sweden, with a very high waste incineration rate and an even better (low-emission) electricity mix than Austria, would have the lowest net result.

Italy (57.56 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) and Europe (54.35 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) show the highest net results, mainly due to higher landfill rates. Furthermore, heavy secondary packaging (transport packaging) leads to higher loads in Finland.

Sweden (29.32 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) and Germany (27.33 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) recorded the highest energy credits from the TBA Edge. In Sweden, the high efficiency of the waste incineration plants leads to high energy credits. In Germany, one hundred percent of the PE/aluminium residues from cardboard recycling are used as substitute fuel in cement kilns. In addition, the aluminium oxide produced during incineration is used as an additive in cement production. 

The highest material credits for the TBA Edge are generated in Belgium (6.16 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) and Germany (4.10 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres) as the countries with the highest recycling/recovery rates.

The CO2 absorption of the TBA Edge shows only minor deviations between the individual markets, which are due to differences in secondary packaging.

Die höchsten Materialgutschriften für den TBA Edge werden in Belgien (6,16 kg CO2-eq/1000 Liter) und Deutschland (4,10 kg CO2-eq/1000 Liter) als den Ländern mit den höchsten Recycling-/Verwertungsquoten erzielt.

Die CO2-Absorption des TBA Edge zeigt nur geringe Abweichungen zwischen den einzelnen Märkten, die auf Unterschiede bei den Sekundärverpackungen zurückzuführen sind

The loads for cardboard, plastic and aluminium foil for bodies and transport packaging are the same for identical packaging regardless of the market. The differences in the transport packaging recognisable in Figure 1 can be explained by variances in the secondary packaging.

In addition to the primary packaging, the secondary packaging, the electricity mix and the data basis for processing also play a role in the processing loads. As the processing data sets do not match 100% with regard to their reference time, no direct comparison is possible.

The burdens of the lids include production, whose process data is linked to the respective market, processing and transport. As the lid weights of the TBA Edge differ in the individual markets, no conclusions can be drawn in this section either. Once again, the market-specific electricity mix, which plays a role in processing, is worth mentioning.

Low loads for bottling (Finland (2.54 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres), Norway (0.51 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres), Sweden (0.58 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres), Austria (2.95 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres), Switzerland (0.73 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres)) can also be attributed to a good electricity mix.

Minimally higher loads for distribution (Belgium (2.89 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres)) are due to a slightly heavier primary weight per beverage carton.

The life cycle step recycling & disposal is mainly determined by the ratio of landfill and incineration plant: With a rather high landfill rate as in Europe, the loads are correspondingly high (29.14 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres).

The biogenic CO2 (recycling & disposal) loads include biogenic CO2 emissions from the end of life, i.e. the end of the life cycle, which consist of plant-based and renewable materials (e.g. cardboard, wood from transport pallets). A high landfill rate here means low loads (EU (15.26 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres), Italy (14.59 kg CO2-eq/1000 litres)), as the carbon in the landfill is partly converted into methane or remains in the landfill. The methane emissions are of course also taken into account in the utilisation and disposal section.

The comparison carried out here shows that a carton that is actually the same shows different results due to country-specific secondary packaging, electricity mix, recycling and disposal. As a large part of the climate impact of beverage cartons results from landfill emissions, markets with a high landfill share show higher net results than markets with a low or no landfill share. This parameter generally plays a greater role than different electricity mixes or other country-specific characteristics. It is therefore recommended to work towards a lower proportion of beverage and food cartons that are disposed of in landfills.

The results as pdf for download