Packaging makes sure our quality dairy gets safely to people around the world. But that comes with a challenge.
So, we’re taking steps to reduce our impact, by making our packaging recycle-ready and helping to upcycle liquid paperboard cartons into local building materials.
Recycle-ready packaging by 2025
Sustainability is a cornerstone of our strategy, and this includes our packaging. Our sustainable packaging journey focuses our actions on packaging design that applies circularity principles, backed up with an environmentally responsible mindset.
Sustainable packaging is important to our customers and consumers: they expect us to deliver high quality, affordable, safe dairy nutrition in packaging that is fit for purpose and reflects our desire to maintain our leadership in sustainable packaging.
We are focusing on using materials and formats that are "recycle ready" (as further explained below). We know taking the steps that are within our control (packaging design and material selection) means that when the infrastructure in a market matures our packaging will already be suitable to enter the circular economy.
What does recycle-ready mean?
We class packaging that meets various international industry-agreed Design for Recyclability guidelines as recycle-ready.
This means that if the infrastructure is in place to collect, sort and reprocess the packaging material, clean and dry packaging can be recycled.
The exact level of recyclability will vary depending on the scope and availability of collection sorting and recycling in the given market. In markets where the required infrastructure for specific recycling is not yet widespread it will not be possible to recycle the packaging
The sustainable packaging claims that we use are:
Recyclable
When you see this claim on a pack the collection and sorting infrastructure exists in your market to collect, sort and recycle clean, dry packaging.
You should look for local guidance on where and how packaging with this claim on can be recycled.
Ready for Recycling*
When you see this claim on a pack the collection and sorting infrastructure may exist, on a limited scale, in your market to collect, sort and recycle clean, dry packaging.
This claim is used when the product and packaging is sold into multiple markets where the availability of recycling is varied across the markets
You should look for local guidance on where and how packaging with this claim on can be recycled.
How you can help
Making a real impact takes everyone.
After you’ve finished enjoying your dairy goodness, make sure to recycle everything you can. When all of Fonterra’s dairy lovers do this, we can help take care of our planet together.
Working together to reduce solid waste
We're working towards zero economically-recoverable materials to landfill.
We’re finding ways to turn waste streams into value streams. This not only reduces our environmental impact but improves performance across our Co-operative. We are prioritising larger waste items and seeking solutions to avoid them, use less of them or recycle them.
Our Approach
We focus on making products in ways that minimise food waste. We also work with vendors to prevent non-recyclable materials from coming to our sites and partner with organisations to increase the range of materials that can be economically recovered.
Consistent improvement across our manufacturing sites has seen a decrease of more than 32% in waste-to-landfill from our FY19 base year.
- Work continues to identify opportunities for re-use and recycling of materials in dairy processing with our partners in the waste industry.
- All Farm Source stores now have full recycling capability for plastics and paper materials in place.