Elopak is the first manufacturer to deliver over one billion 100% renewable cartons

After launching beverage cartons featuring certified renewable polyethylene (PE) in 2014, Elopak is now the first manufacturer to deliver over one billion 100% renewable cartons.

Elopak’s cartons offered with renewable PE, help ensuring resources for future generations. In addition, using a renewable feedstock instead of a fossil one, significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the cartons. In 2017, Elopak further improved its renewable offering by introducing new feedstocks for renewable PE. The company chose to change supplier base to widen its offering of renewable PE and now offers two different sources. One is derived from sugar cane, the other is based on tall oil, a residue from pulp and paper production.

“Reaching one billion fully renewable cartons is a major milestone for Elopak and a great contribution to reducing the use of fossil resources ,” says Marianne Groven, Interim Director Environment in Elopak. “As a major global packaging company it is our responsibility to continue developing our renewable offering and lower the carbon footprint of our cartons. Elopak will always strive to provide packaging with a strong environmental profile to support our customers’ brands.”

Sourced from Nordic forests, the tall oil-based feedstock enables Elopak to offer beverage cartons entirely based on wood. Tall oil is a residue (also referred to as second generation feedstock) from pulp and paper production, which is the main raw material in the beverage carton. The wood for both the paperboard and the renewable PE is sourced 100% from responsibly managed forests and other controlled sources, in accordance with the FSC™ certification system.

The alternative feedstock is sourced from Brazil, where sugar cane can grow in areas where other crops cannot. Sugar cane is one of the most efficient plants in converting sunlight to chemical energy and hence is a sustainable, fast-growing renewable resource. Both feedstocks are certified according to ISCC PLUS, ensuring that the entire value chain is sustainable and certified up to the finished product.