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Tetra Pak says will invest €60 million ($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 solutions that reduce reliance on aluminium.

The investment will fund an owned pilot facility at the packaging group’s site in Lund, southern Sweden, enabling faster industrialisation of an aseptic carton material that replaces the traditional aluminium foil layer with a paper-based barrier.

This latest move is aimed at helping large beverage and dairy manufacturers cut packaging emissions while maintaining shelf life and food safety – a long-standing technical hurdle 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, raises traceable renewable content to as much as 92%.

The company says the solution can reduce a carton’s carbon footprint by up to 43% compared with conventional aseptic packaging, based on Carbon Trust-verified lifecycle modelling.

For food and beverage manufacturers under pressure from retailers, regulators and consumers to decarbonise packaging, aluminium has become a growing challenge due to its carbon intensity, cost volatility and recycling complexity.

By simplifying carton structures from three materials – paper, polymers and aluminium – to two, Tetra Pak said the new format could also improve recycling efficiency, enabling higher recovery of paper fibres and cleaner non-fibre fractions within existing recycling infrastructure.

The pilot plant will allow customers to test the technology across the full production chain, from barrier formation to filled package production, before committing to commercial-scale deployment.

“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.”

The Lund site was selected for its proximity to Tetra Pak’s materials research teams, its collaboration with Lund University, and access to advanced testing facilities at the MAX IV synchrotron laboratory.

Tetra Pak said it expects to begin pilot production and host its first customers at the site in the first quarter of 2027.

The investment forms part of the company’s wider plan to spend around €100 million annually through to 2030 on sustainable packaging development, as competition intensifies among packaging suppliers to offer fibre-based alternatives that can meet the performance requirements of liquid foods.

The company launched its first aseptic carton using a paper-based barrier in 2023 in partnership with a Portuguese dairy producer. The format has since been positioned as a pathway to aluminium-free cartons for high-volume beverage categories such as milk, plant-based drinks and juices.