World Premiere! Tetra Pak And Schoeller Allibert Usher in A New Era Of Recyclable Transport Packaging: Made From Used Beverage Cartons

World Premiere! Tetra Pak and Schoeller Allibert usher in a new era of recyclable transport packaging: made from used beverage cartons

At the critical juncture of the global acceleration towards carbon neutrality, the sustainable transformation of the packaging and logistics field has become the core of the breakthrough. On March 31, 2025, Tetra Pak and Schoeller Allibert opened a new chapter in the transformation of traditional transport packaging to a circular economy with the recycling of aluminum-plastic materials for used beverage cartons. This industrial revolution, which began with technological breakthroughs and became ecological co-construction, is redefining the future of industrial packaging with the closed-loop logic of "from waste to high-value products".

Core technology: 50% recycled aluminum-plastic materials to build a high-performance recycling carrier

The Materials Revolution: Reconstructing the Value of Waste

As a technology leader in the field of recyclable transport packaging, SCHULER Elibo has developed warehouse crates and reusable logistics packaging that meet the most demanding industrial standards by combining 50% of the recycled Aluminum-plastic composite material in used beverage cartons with recycled resources from other sources (100% virgin materials). These products not only pass the mechanical properties test (load-bearing, impact resistance, weather resistance), but also achieve environmental advantages that are difficult to achieve with conventional plastic packaging – a single crate is made from around 200 recycled beverage cartons, reducing virgin plastic consumption at the source.

Application landing: green upgrade of the supply chain

The first samples are currently undergoing on-site durability tests at Tetra Pak's global spare parts distribution centre in Lund, Sweden. If verified, Tetra Pak will gradually replace more than 50,000 traditional crates, which is expected to reduce the use of thousands of tonnes of virgin plastic per year and embed "green DNA" in its global supply chain. This is not only an internal carbon reduction practice, but also an industry benchmark for the sustainability of logistics equipment.

Cooperation model: Open collaboration accelerates the process of technology commercialization

From a single project to ecological co-construction

This cooperation is by no means an isolated innovation, but a circular economy technology sharing platform built by both parties. While serving Tetra Pak, SCHULER Eliber is openly connecting with customers in various fields such as food, retail, and manufacturing, and providing customized recyclable transport packaging solutions based on this innovative material. This model of "technology R&D-scenario verification-large-scale replication" breaks down industry barriers and promotes innovation from the laboratory to the global market.

The exemplary value of cross-industry collaboration

By integrating Tetra Pak's packaging recycling network with SCULER Aliba's material processing technology, the two companies have created a complete closed loop of "package production-use-recycling-recycling". This model proves that cross-industry collaboration can not only improve resource utilization efficiency, but also give rise to new business forms, providing a replicable path for the global manufacturing industry to solve the problem of "sustainable development and cost-benefit balance".

Industry Insights: From Material Innovation to the Deep Logic of System Change

Executive perspective: The two-wheel drive of sustainability

Britta Wyss Bissang

"Customers' requirements for supply chain ESG have shifted from 'optional' to 'required', and material innovation is the key to solving the contradiction between sustainability and performance. Through upcycling technology, we can transform aluminum-plastic waste into durable, industrial-grade materials, which is not only a product iteration, but also a practical verification of the concept of 'waste as a resource'." "

Tetra Pak Kinga Sieradzon

"The mission of aseptic carton packaging is not only to ensure food safety, but also to enable material circularity at the end of the life cycle. In the future, we will work with our global recycling partners to develop more 'second life' products such as crates and outdoor furniture, and build an infinite recycling system for packaging materials." "

Tetra Pak Sweden Marie Sandin

"The practice of the Longde factory proves that sustainable materials can be integrated into all scenarios such as office, production, and logistics. When each crate carries not only the goods, but also the recycled value of 200 used packaging, this is the embodiment of the circular economy – environmental protection and efficiency, which can be achieved at the same time. "

The bottom layer of technology: the scientific deconstruction of the closed loop of packaging recycling

The multi-layer structure of "70% FSC-certified™ cardboard + ultra-thin aluminum layer + polymer layer" of aseptic beverage cartons creates natural conditions for recycling

Fiber layer: The paper mill extracts and recycles into paper products to realize the recycling of wood resources.
Aluminum-plastic layer: Through physical separation and melt reengineering, it is converted into high-strength particles, which are used in the manufacture of logistics equipment, outdoor facilities, etc., to build a closed loop of "secondary recycling of packaging →→ industrial products".
This process not only solves the pain point of traditional packaging that "single material is easy to recycle, composite material is difficult to process", but also opens up a new track of cross-industry material recycling.

Industry Impact: Redefining the Green Competitiveness of Transport Packaging

Implications for the industry

Technical level: Prove the feasibility of high-value recycling of composite packaging materials, and promote the industry to shift from "single material dependence" to "full component recycling";
Business level: verify the cost competitiveness of sustainable products and decipher the inherent perception that "environmental protection must be high";
Ecological level: Build a collaborative ecology of "packaging enterprises + logistics equipment + recycling network" and accelerate the construction of circular economy infrastructure.

Exemplary value to the world

In the context of the imminent full implementation of the European Union's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the in-depth promotion of China's "zero-waste city" construction, this case provides a "technology + model" dual-driven solution for countries to solve the problem of packaging waste. When the transport box is no longer a "disposable consumable", but a "recyclable resource carrier", what is reflected behind it is the deep transformation of the entire industrial system to "reduction, reuse, and recycling".

The partnership between Tetra Pak and SCHULER Alibo is much more than just the creation of a new transport case. It is a subversion of the "linear economy" - allowing aluminum-plastic materials, which were once regarded as waste, to gain a second life in logistics equipment; It is also a reinterpretation of "sustainable development" – proving that environmental goals and business value can coexist through technological innovation.

As more and more companies realize that the circular economy is not a cost burden, but a core component of future competitiveness, this innovative practice that began in Lausanne, Switzerland, will eventually become an important footnote to the green transformation of the global industrial system. In the countdown to carbon neutrality, such "green synergy" is a key step towards a sustainable future.