Tetra Pak to invest US$65M in Sweden pilot plant to advance paper-based barrier technology for aseptic cartons
Tetra Pak’s new Lund pilot facility will help food and beverage producers test aluminium-free carton technology at industrial scale.
SWEDEN – Tetra Pak has announced plans to invest €60 million (about US$65 million) in a new pilot plant in Sweden to accelerate the development of paper-based barrier technology for aseptic cartons, as food and beverage producers seek lower-carbon packaging that reduces reliance on aluminium.
The investment will fund a company-owned pilot facility at Tetra Pak’s site in Lund, southern Sweden, and is designed to speed up the industrialisation of an aseptic carton material that replaces the traditional aluminium foil layer with a paper-based barrier.
The packaging group said the new technology is intended to help beverage and dairy manufacturers cut packaging emissions while maintaining shelf life and food safety, which has been a long-standing technical challenge for aluminium-free aseptic cartons.
According to Tetra Pak, the new material increases the paper content of beverage cartons to around 80% and, when combined with plant-based polymers, lifts the traceable renewable content to as much as 92%.
The company said this solution can reduce a carton’s carbon footprint by up to 43% compared with conventional aseptic packaging, based on Carbon Trust-verified lifecycle modelling.
Aluminium has become a growing concern for food and beverage producers facing pressure from retailers, regulators and consumers to decarbonise packaging, due to its high carbon intensity, cost volatility and recycling complexity.
Tetra Pak said the new format simplifies carton structures from three materials – paper, polymers and aluminium – to two, which could also improve recycling efficiency.
By removing aluminium, the company said the new design allows for higher recovery of paper fibres and cleaner non-fibre fractions within existing recycling infrastructure. The pilot plant will enable customers to test the technology across the full production chain, from barrier formation to filled package production, before committing to commercial-scale use.
“This facility is about making the technology accessible at industrial scale,” said Joakim Tuvesson, vice president for materials and packaging at Tetra Pak. “It gives customers the ability to understand how the barrier performs in real manufacturing conditions, not just in the lab.”
Tetra Pak selected the Lund site because of its proximity to the company’s materials research teams, its collaboration with Lund University and its access to advanced testing facilities at the MAX IV synchrotron laboratory. The company said it expects to begin pilot production and host its first customers at the site in the first quarter of 2027.
The investment is part of Tetra Pak’s wider plan to spend around €100 million (US$108 million) annually through to 2030 on sustainable packaging development, as competition intensifies among packaging suppliers to deliver fibre-based alternatives that meet the performance requirements of liquid foods.
Tetra Pak launched its first aseptic carton using a paper-based barrier in 2023 in partnership with a Portuguese dairy producer, positioning the format as a pathway to aluminium-free cartons for high-volume beverage categories such as milk, plant-based drinks and juices.
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