Driven by purpose

Our approach to sustainability is embodied by our purpose “we commit to making food safe and available, everywhere and we promise to protect what’s good - protecting food, people and the planet”.


Our purpose guides our business decisions, unifies our people, and continues to be the driving force behind our innovations. It is central to our Strategy 2030 and its four pillars of quality, sustainability, integration and optimisation, and innovation.

Our approach to sustainability takes into consideration the expectations of our stakeholders, and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics that are most material to our industry. At the heart of our sustainability approach, we consider the interconnections and interdependencies of five focus areas, which are aligned with our purpose and where Tetra Pak can contribute the most: food systems1, nature, climate, circularity, and social sustainability.

a diagram of sustainability agenda at Tetra Pak

Our sustainability priorities

Tetra Pak remains committed to monitoring, managing, and reporting on our five focus areas. As part of this commitment to openness and transparency, we regularly conduct a formal, independent materiality assessment to ensure we are addressing those topics of greatest relevance, for our customers, business, society, and the environment. In 2021 we engaged Accountability, an independent ESG Advisory firm, to support us in updating our materiality assessment to identify the most important sustainability topics for us to focus on.

The topics identified as most material to our business in our 2021 Materiality Assessment are shown in the matrix below, which highlights the aspects according to priority and relevance to Tetra Pak and external stakeholders. The 2021 Materiality update builds on Tetra Pak’s previous 2019 assessment, in line with GRI Standards, and creates a foundation for our sustainability reporting.

Materiality table

This matrix visualises the top material aspects according to their relevance to Tetra Pak and external stakeholders, and their level of priority and timeliness (remain in focus/increased visibility/new and further enhanced aspects).

We have also assigned the most relevant SDGs to each brand pillar (Food, People and Planet). This focus on the SDGs builds on our ongoing commitment to the UN Global Compact and its ten principles, to which we have been a signatory since 2004. 

How we embed sustainability in our company strategy  and business

Sustainability makes up one out of four pillars of our company strategy for 2030, which will guide our company over the next decade. As part of our internal sustainability transformation, we are fully embedding sustainability across all nine units of our business and the capabilities, processes, systems, and data necessary to create a culture in which all our employees can have a greater understanding, fulfilment, and impact.  We continuously monitor our environmental and social sustainability progress and review our targets and actions to make sure they meet our ambitions and are in line with best practices and the latest science.

Tetra Pak Sustainability Leadership

Tetra Pak’s overall sustainability direction, including ambitions, targets and commitments, is led by the Sustainability & Communications Leadership Team, chaired by the Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Communications of the Tetra Pak Group, and governed by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), chaired by the President and CEO of Tetra Pak.  

a diagram of a company's structure

How we verify our sustainability approach 

Verification is essential to our sustainability process. Our practices and performance are externally verified, and Tetra Pak’s scopes 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission data have received limited assurance by a third party since 2013. Our Sustainability Report is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, the most widely adopted international independent framework for sustainability reporting.  See our GHG Inventory report and GRI Content Index FY22.

We also have an Advisory Panel, formed in 2020, to advise us on our sustainability strategy within the business, broader industry, and beyond. The panel is comprised of independent external advisors, who were selected based on their range of experience and expertise deemed necessary to shape and inform a pioneering sustainability agenda that will help us achieve our sustainability goals, including our ultimate ambition to create the world’s most sustainable food package2.

Acting for sustainability

Overview of Circularity, Biodiversity, Food and Climate

Go nature. Go carton.

Our ambition is to lead the sustainability transformation within our industry. Explore the priorities that guide us in our collaborations for enabling systemic change.

Artistic illustration woman and people in various situations

Moving Food Forward

Everyone, everywhere deserves access to safe and nutritious food that does not cost the earth. We are working to support the transition to secure, sustainable and resilient food systems1 through our actions, products & solutions.

1The term ‘food systems’ refers to all the elements and activities related to producing and consuming food, and their effects, including economic, health, and environmental outcomes (OECD, https://www.oecd.org/food-systems, 2023).

2This means creating cartons that are fully made of renewable or recycled materials, that are responsibly sourced, therefore helping protect and restore our planet's climate, resources and biodiversity; contributing towards carbon-neutral production and distribution; are convenient and safe, therefore helping to enable a resilient food system; are fully recyclable.