Dairy producer to use a 'sweet' new cap

A Norwegian dairy is the first company in Europe to use a cap made from a new, renewable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) on its products.

TINE will use Tetra Pak’s LightCap 30, made from sugar cane, as well as the Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge on its range of products like iced coffee, iced tea and chocolate milk.

“As one of Norway’s largest users of packaging, it is important that we use our resources optimally and prioritise sustainability. This is a business imperative for us. Tetra Pak’s TBA Edge, which is made from about 75% renewable resources, now comes with bio-based cap, offering us the opportunity to further enhance the environmental profile of our products”, said Björn Malm, Sustainability Manager, at TINE.

The renewable polyethylene used in LightCap 30 starts out as sugar cane. The cane is crushed and the juice fermented and distilled to produce ethanol. Through a process of dehydration, ethanol is converted into ethylene, which is then polymerised to produce the polyethylene used to manufacture the cap.

“The development of the bio-based LightCap 30 is another important step towards our goal of producing a 100% renewable packaging solution. This launch demonstrates our continued commitment to environmental innovation and providing customers, retailers and consumers with the highest level of environmental performance for their packaging,” said Erik Steijger, Product Manager Environmental Innovation, Tetra Pak.

Tetra Pak has embarked on an ambitious environmental programme designed to deliver on the company’s ultimate aim of providing fully sustainable packaging using only renewable materials and leaving a minimal environmental footprint and zero waste.