“Sustainability has always been a cornerstone of our strategy, our business, as well as our culture,” said Magnus Jonsson, director of Tetra Pak’s Binh Duong factory. “Tetra Pak Binh Duong is the first packaging production factory in Vietnam to achieve the latest and most-demanding LEED Version 4 Gold Certification. This truly showcases our commitment to sustainability, staying true to our brand promise – 'Protects What’s Good'.”

The factory’s production, office, support, and warehouse buildings meet all requirements of the LEED certification. Thanks to the application of LEED’s latest green standards – Gold Version 4 – Tetra Pak’s Binh Duong factory has various sustainability highlights.

Along with this, the factory covers 34.6ha with 31 different plant and tree types that helps quadruple oxygen concentration at the factory, creating a healthy working environment for staff and increasing productivity.

Additionally,it helps save 17.6 million litres of water a year, recycling or salvaging 65 per cent of generated construction waste, and decreasing 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 200 flights around the world.

Moreover, its over 70 per cent of indoor products meet strict requirements for volatile organic compound emissions and achieve strict air quality standards for 37 compounds. Formaldehyde levels are 66 per cent less than World Health Organization standards.

Tetra Pak Binh Duong’s success in adhering to the latest LEED Gold Certification standards has enabled it to mitigate harmful impacts on the environment and improve living quality. Vietnamese consumers’ use of Tetra Pak’s paper boxes is a sustainable choice that contributes to environmental protection.

Built at the end of 2017 and officially put into operation in July 2019, the €120 million ($135.6 million) factory covering 100,000 square metres in Vietnam-Singapore II-A Industrial Park in Binh Duong province is capable of producing up to 20 billion carton packages per annum.

With more than 200 skilled local workers, Tetra Pak Binh Duong produces aseptic cartons for the domestic market and for export to ASEAN countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Along with applying LEED standards, Tetra Pak Binh Duong has also implemented many other international standards for safety, quality, and environmental protection such as ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO4500 and more, aiming at the highest standards for the environment.

At present, almost all of the company’s beverage cartons are produced from replanted forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Sustainability is an integral part of Tetra Pak’s business in Vietnam. As a leading company in the food industry, Tetra Pak sees its responsibility is to drive the food industry’s sustainability agenda.

The past 12 years has also seen Tetra Pak closely collaborate with partners to develop initiatives to collect and recycle used cartons in Vietnam.

In particular, Tetra Pak plans to expand the carton packaging collection campaign of School Recycling to 1,200 kindergartens and primary schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The programme is expected to instill the habit of categorising used cartons in both schoolchildren and the public.

The company is also actively engaged with community organisations to establish and expand the chain of public drop-off stations so that consumers can bring their used cartons for collecting and recycling. Tetra Pak currently holds a network of nearly 30 drop-off stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

By the end of November 2019, Tetra Pak is collaborating with LOTTE Mart and NHC to launch the Carton House campaign in LOTTE Marts in South Saigon area. The carton houses are made from recycled cartons and serve as a destination for consumers to bring their used cartons for collecting and recycling.

Driven by the ambition that all packaging materials put into the market by Tetra Pak will be collected for recycling by 2030, the company has teamed up with eleven other leading food, beverage, and packaging businesses to establish Packaging Recycling Organization Vietnam (PRO Vietnam) to promote the package collecting and recycling in Vietnam.

As a recognition of its efforts in driving sustainability in Vietnam, Tetra Pak made its name to the Top 10 sustainable companies in Vietnam’s manufacturing sector in 2019. The prestigious award is part of the annual programme on benchmarking and announcing sustainable companies in Vietnam co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam General Confederation of Labour since 2016.