Used Beverage Carton management study for India
In India, Tetra Pak was among the first carton packaging companies started in the year 1987. The main focus of Tetra Pak is to provide safe food which is accessible and sustainable in nature to benefit lives of many. Tetra Pak is actively involved and has taken up various initiatives to ensure protection of food as well as future of the people (aligning its activities towards SDGs). With the sole purpose to understand the management of used beverage carton, Tetra Pak appointed The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to undertake this study. We laud the efforts of corporates like Tetra Pak who come forward voluntarily to commission such comprehensive studies.
Tetra Pak is consistently being proactive for safeguarding environment and has been involved in many cities to set up collection centres for Used Beverage Cartons (UBCs) as well as raising awareness among public through information, education and capacity building programs. This is a third report in the series by Tetra Pak to help understand management of UBCs and evaluate recycling rates in Indian subcontinent, after years 2011 and 2015. Every report has extended its horizon as well as number of stakeholders for interaction to assess collection and recycling of UBCs. Tetra Pak has been doing voluntary EPR for more than 15 years now and has been continuously working with recyclers across South Asian region to develop solutions, technologies and applications. Through constant interactions and tie ups with recyclers to develop solutions, technologies and applications of UBCs, Tetra Pak has always tried to bring up the level of active sorting of UBCs and reduce mixed waste recycling. Thus, making recycling of UBCs more effective, efficient and economical.
The span of this study was spread in 20 selected cities of India and 03 cities of Kathmandu, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This particular report specifically talks about 20 Indian cities. Compared to the earlier study conducted by TERI on UBC management (also called Post-consumer carton management) for Tetra Pak it was observed that recycling rate was about 29% in 2011, about 43% in 2015 and is now increased to about 54% in 2019.
We hope this type of study will definitely help Tetra Pak to formulate appropriate strategies to enhance the recycling rates of UBCs and help achieve SDGs. This report will also be helpful to policy makers, urban local bodies, think tanks, NGOs and waste processors to understand the scenario of UBCs management and it's potential.