(Photo: Tetra Brik Aseptic 200 ml with paper straw. Credit: Tetra Pak)
Tetra Pak says their customers have started field testing the company’s paper straws for beverage products in Europe. These straws are made from FSC-certified paper and recyclable along with the rest of the beverage packaging, according to the carton packaging manufacturer.
Initially, Tetra Pak says it will make the new paper straw available for two smaller child-sized carton packages for dairy and beverage products: Tetra Brik Aseptic 200 Base and Tetra Brik Aseptic 200 Base Crystal. Field testing has started on limited volumes of the paper straws while production capacity gets ramped up at the company’s plant in Lisbon, Portugal, the company added.
“This is an important step in our vision to deliver a package made entirely from plant-based packaging materials, contributing to a low-carbon circular economy,” said Tetra Pak president and CEO Adolfo Orive.
Notably, the company did not apply for patent protection and decided to put their innovations into the public domain instead. Tetra Pak’s leadership said that the entire supply base for paper straws must expand and grow quickly in order for the industry to reach a low-carbon circular economy.
“We invite all suppliers and customers to use our knowledge and join forces with us to ramp up production as quickly as possible,” Orive said.
When Tetra Pak studied Millennials last year, they discovered that drink packaging with a resealable cap over a straw is in demand among this consumer group. The company aims to replace fossil fuel based plastics straws and is investing nearly $90 million in developing paper straws, tethered caps, and other solutions this year to 2021.
In addition, Tetra Pak announced that the company is collaborating with technology leaders on biodegradable options like biodegradable polymers derived from plant-based materials called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). “Other sustainable drink-from development projects in Tetra Pak’s pipeline include tethered caps and integrated drink-from systems,” the carton packaging maker said.