82 Chapter 5
5. Qualitative Analysis
In this and the following sections, Tetra Pak’s CSR online communication will be qualitatively analyzed focusing on how, in terms of stakeholders, textual elements and the composition of information, the organization communicates and emphasizes its commitment to CSR.
5.1. Stakeholder analysis
As pointed out in the theoretical background, CSR is very much about focusing on stakeholders. Most CSR reports and CSR communication in general have as purpose to establish a good reputation, to inform stakeholders about the CSR initiatives put forward by the organization and to create an image among stakeholders that the organization is a relevant societal actor (Bivins, 2007).
This is highly important because “the future of any one company in today’s society depends critically on how it is viewed by key stakeholders such as shareholders and investors, customers and consumers, employees and members of the community in which the company resides” (Cornelissen, 2004:9).
It is therefore important for organizations to develop and foster good relationships with stakeholders and know how to manage them and their needs.
In order for the analysis of Tetra Pak’s CSR online communication to be as precise as possible, it is important to gain some knowledge about the context and the possible receivers of the text, which can be achieved through a stakeholder analysis.
There has been much ambiguity around the question of who actually reads CSR reports, and thus who the stakeholders of CSR reports are. In general, it is believed that shareholders, investors, especially socially responsible investors (SRIs), NGOs and other CSR-“experts”, and increasingly also employees, are the primary stakeholders and therefore the ones that are most likely to actively seek
83 information about organizations’ CSR commitment in CSR reports and on the corporate website (see e.g. Dawkins, 2004; Edelman, 2008).
Following the general belief about the audience for CSR reports, Cornelissen’s Stakeholder Salience Model (2011) can be used to define the importance of these stakeholders (figure 9).
Figure 9 Stakeholder’s Salience Model (Cornelissen, 2011:46)
This model identifies and classifies stakeholders according to their salience to the organization, with salience being defined as “how visible or prominent a stakeholder is to an organization based upon the stakeholder possessing one or more of three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency” (Cornelissen, 2011:45).
The most salient stakeholders have the highest priority and as a consequence need more attention.
In table 5 below, a general classification of the primary stakeholders for Tetra Pak’s CSR report is presented.
84
Stakeholders Look for Salience of
stakeholder
Priority
Shareholders and investors
-Relevance of CSR to strategy and bottom line -Leading within some
Fields
Significant:
dominant
stakeholder High
NGOs and “CSR experts”
-Evidence of impact of CSR programs:
Indicators, benchmarks etc.
-External evaluation
- Integrated approach
-Adherence to official principles
(potentially) Dominant stakeholders
High
Employees -Progress -Employee involvement
Current employees:
dominant stakeholders
High
Table 5 Tetra Pak’s primary stakeholders classification (my elaboration)
Shareholders and investors are dominant stakeholders and have a high priority for many organizations; dominant stakeholders, on the other hand, are powerful and have legitimate claims, for which reason they have a strong influence. That is why they should continually be informed and communicated with, so as to always be in a dialogue with them and align expectations. This is absolutely one of Tetra Pak’s top priorities, which is clearly visible in excerpts 1 and 2:
85 (1) Our integrated value chain approach means collaborating with others to develop common solutions and create value together. We actively engage with a broad range of stakeholders at both global and local levels, and seek to align with the knowledge, networks and credibility of strategic partners to support our business and sustainability objectives, and make a positive difference to the communities in which we work. (Sustainability report 2014)
(2) Achieving our goals depends on collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders at global and local level to develop common solutions and create shared value. We actively engage with our stakeholders at all levels. By respecting their interests, listening to their concerns and being open and honest in our communication with them, we can find new ways to reduce our impact and make our business more competitive and sustainable. (Sustainability report 2015)
Additionally, according to Dawkins (2004), shareholders and investors look for the relevance of the CSR engagement to the organizational strategy and bottom line. Tetra Pak’s CSR reports touch a lot upon the economic benefit of its activities, which reflects the recurring pattern in the company’s CSR communication, as testified by the following examples:
(3) The company’s Packaging Solutions business reported net sales of €9.4 billion, 0.9 per cent higher than in 2013. Packaging material volumes touched 180 billion packs, slightly ahead of the 178 billion packs sold in 2013, while Capital Equipment saw revenues rise 6.4 per cent year on year and Technical Sales climbed nearly 11 per cent. Almost 30 per cent of Technical Sales now comes from service contracts, as more and more customers recognize the value of proactive maintenance, stable performance and predictable costs.
(Sustainability report 2014)
(4) Tetra Pak’s revenues reached €11.9 billion in 2015, a rise of 7.5% on the previous year, as a strong business performance helped overcome the impact of continued challenges in the global economy. Positive currency impacts accounted for 6.3% of the increase, but the company also reported solid growth in both Services and Processing Solutions (Sustainability report 2015)
86 Snippets of information concerning the company’s economic performance are also to be found on the global website (see examples below):
(5) Against the backdrop of a tough year, with slower packaging material growth than originally expected, we saw clear evidence that our business strategy is working. Capital Equipment sales reached almost €2 billion and Technical Sales topped €1 billion for the first time in the company’s history. Our processing business closed the year with a record high order backlog, up 20 per cent compared with the end of 2013. And we saw a significant increase in sales of our advanced packing formats: 7.1 billion more packs reached the shelves in 2014 than in 2013, offering customers optimal functionality and differentiation.
(Tetra Pak’s website)
(6) Revenues from Packaging Solutions totaled €10.1 billion in 2015, a rise of 6.4% compared with the previous year, with particularly strong growth in Technical Service. In spite of the more challenging global economic environment, sales of packaging materials were slightly higher, with 184 billion packs sold in 2015 compared with 180 billion in 2014. (Tetra Pak’s website)
Unlike the reports, information on the website is complemented with tables and graphs available by clicking on hyperlinks disseminated in the pages, as well as with downloadable pdf files available in the section “News archive”.
As far as the second big stakeholder group is concerned, there are also a lot of examples of the impact of Tetra Pak’s CSR activities in the report, meaning that the needs of this group made up of NGOs and activists groups are fully met in this respect. This stakeholder group, in fact, is classified as dominant stakeholders, because they can exert a lot of power over the organization, especially if in cooperation with the media: a fact Porter and Kramer (2006) touch upon: “Activist organizations of all kinds, both on the right and the left, have grown much more aggressive and effective in bringing public pressure to bear on corporations” (Porter and Kramer, 2006:80). This is the reason why Tetra Pak might find it extremely beneficial to provide thorough details of the output of what the organization does and its successful collaboration with international partners.
87 Examples in the website and the report where this stakeholder group’s needs are actually met are the following:
(7) We work with non-government organizations (NGOs) and multi- stakeholder initiatives on a wide variety of issue-specific projects. Key partners and initiatives include the UN Global Compact, the Forest Stewardship Council™
(FSC™), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and many more.
(Tetra Pak’s website)
(8) Reducing food loss and wastage at every stage of the supply chain is key to tackling food insecurity and meeting the challenge of feeding a growing population. In the Netherlands, for example, we are working with the government to raise consumer awareness of “sell by” and “use by” dates and reduce the amount of safe food being wasted. (Sustainability report 2016)
(9) Since 2010, we have reduced the climate emissions from our own operations by 2,000 tons CO2e, while achieving 12% growth in packaging production and the recycling rate of Tetra Pak packages in 2013 reached 24.5%
– the equivalent of 43 billion recycled cartons worldwide. (Sustainability report 2014)
Significant efforts are also made by Tetra Pak to demonstrate to this stakeholder group that the company’s communication is as transparent as possible. For this reason a framework for measuring the performance of the CSR activities has been devised, including some external evaluation, proof of which is given in the reports under sub-section “External Assurance”:
(10) Our practices, processes and performance are verified externally through World Class Manufacturing, ISO 9001 and 14001, OHSAS 18001, and Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) Chain of Custody and Quality Assurance Management certification. By the end of 2014, 94% of our factories had been certified to ISO 14001. Our GHG emissions data has been audited by a third party since 2006. (Sustainability report 2015)
As far as employees are concerned, they are classified as dominant stakeholders, because, especially together, they can hold great power over the organization.
Today, where the Internet makes it possible for individuals to be heard, a dissatisfied employee may end up spoiling an organization’s reputation. In
88 contrast, satisfied employees may be very important for an organization, as happy employees can function as advocates for the organization (Dawkins, 2004). Thus, making employees aware of CSR activities is important, and they have a high priority. In CSR reports, employees look for progress and initiatives implemented to improve employee conditions, which is also covered in Tetra Pak’s CSR reports under section “People” and sub-section “Employee engagement”, as testified by the following excerpts:
(11) As well as undertaking formal training, a fundamental part of employee development at Tetra Pak is learning on the job and being coached by colleagues. For example, our global mentoring program brings together senior managers with emerging leaders from around the globe, to act as mentors for a year. The program includes monthly mentoring meetings, job shadowing and participating in projects that allow mentees to widen their experience and network, and learn from our most experienced leaders. (Sustainability report 2013)
(12) Our success depends on our people performing at their best – and for this they need to feel motivated, connected and valued. Our employee engagement survey is a key element in helping us to measure how connected and motivated our people are to perform at their best, and one of the ways in which we can check how we are delivering against the promises we make to them. (Sustainability report 2015)
(13) In 2014, we continued a safety program in our packaging material sites to reduce the number of knife cuts, which had been a major cause of injury. The program focused on identifying the safest type of knife for each area of operation and developed safety procedures to be implemented across all PM sites. (Sustainability report 2014)
89 5.2. Framework for Effective CSR Communication
Du et al. (2010) have created a conceptual framework for CSR communication, analyzing different factors that influence the effectiveness of CSR communication, with the overall categories being CSR communication, contingency factors and communication outcomes (see section 3.5).
The following paragraphs will present an overview and the actual analysis of the relevant parts of the framework for the purpose of this study.
5.2.1. Message content
The first part of Du et al.’s (2010) framework concentrates on the specific message content and the channel(s) that are used to distribute the message.
According to the authors, the message content of CSR communication can either focus on a social cause itself or an organization’s involvement in a social cause.
However, most CSR communication emphasizes the latter, thus associating the organization to a cause, which is also what Tetra Pak mainly does throughout the CSR reports, the website texts and the articles posted on Facebook and the Unfold-blog.
A preliminary comparison of the collections of texts under investigation shows in fact a great variation in terms of message content, length and structuring of information. The collected reports, for example, appear to be extremely longer (ranging from the 90 pages of the 2013 to the 38 pages of the 2016 Sustainability report) than the collected website texts (30 pages) and the Facebook and Unfold blog articles (57 pages in total). This is primarily due to the intrinsic nature of the genres the texts belong to and, of course, to the communication channel over which these texts are circulated.
As a matter of fact, the reports show a rather fixed structuring of information, with a general layout mirroring the minimalistic architecture of the website.
The reports, as well as the website, are in fact built around the 3 main pillars of Tetra Pak’s brand promise: Food, People and Futures. In the reports those 3 main
90 macro areas are considerably expanded by means of sections and sub-sections which cover the main arguments of CSR, i.e. economic performance, environmental issues and employee engagement among others.
The web texts, on the other hand, appear to discuss the same CSR-related issues but by following a different approach that provides general information in the first level electronic pages and then expands on them, using hyperlinks which direct the surfers to second or third level pages that provide much more detailed information and technicalities.
This is exemplified in extracts 14 and 15 taken, respectively, from Tetra Pak’s Sustainability report and webpage:
(14) Food Availability
We believe that the most effective way to tackle global challenges relating to food and nutrition is to build sustainable food value chains. Food for Development works with customers, governments, development agencies, funding organizations and NGOs to drive development of the dairy and food value chain worldwide. Read more about Food for Development. (Tetra Pak’s website).
(15) Food availability
Tetra Pak’s vision – to make food safe and available, everywhere – is made possible through our aseptic processing and packaging solutions. Our Food for Development Office (FfDO) was established in 2000 to gather Tetra Pak’s extensive experience in helping governments in developing countries to implement school milk programs based on public–private partnerships. Today, the FfDO works with Tetra Pak market companies all over the world to drive the development of the entire food value chain in collaboration with customers, governments and other organizations. These partnerships lead to new school feeding programs, the development of new nutritious products and the set-up of dairy development projects, details of which are provided below.
(Sustainability report 2015)
In terms of information choice, a more thorough content analysis reveals that a slightly different selection of information is discussed in the CSR reports and in the web pages. On the web pages, due to the synthetic and quick nature of the medium, information is found condensed and packed into short sentences with
91 salience being given to general and introductory considerations on the company:
its history, its values, its vision and mission. Facts and statistics appear to be encapsulated into the text, converted into lists or presented in the form of infographics, providing images captioned with relevant data (figure 10 below).
Figure 10 Our futures journey infographic (Tetra Pak website)
In the CSR reports, on the other hand, information is detailed and syntactically well-structured, with primacy attributed to the company’s business performance as well as to sustainable initiatives and projects the company engages in. Great use is made of visual aids such as charts, tables, boxes and diagrams (figure 11 below).
92 Figure 11 Health and safety graphs. (Sustainability report 2014:36)
Quotes attributed to important management figures are also very common in the reports (see example 16-17), which, on the web, appear as generic statements or claims whose source is not specified (see example 18).
(16) “The best way to make a lasting positive difference is through collaboration and partnership” Dennis Jönsson, CEO & President (Sustainability report 2016)
(17) “By staying on top of what’s happening today, we can help our customers meet the demands of tomorrow” Dr Gabi Pieper, Director, Food Packaging Safety and Interaction (Sustainability report 2013)
(18) “Our core values define our culture and ‘the way we do things around here’. They inform our behavior internally and externally; uniting people from different cultures, countries and backgrounds; enabling us to treat each other with mutual respect, and helping us work harmoniously together at Tetra Pak.”
(Tetra Pak’s website)
As far as the Facebook page and the Unfold-blog texts are concerned, they seem to share common features with the texts retrieved from Tetra Pak’s webpage.
Being both instances of web communication, those texts are extremely short,
93 brief and direct, with stress being laid on the content rather than on the structuring of information itself. Among the main topic covered in the Facebook pages are company’s important achievements, the promotion of campaigns or contests launched by the company to engage in a dialogic relationship with its customers (see example 19-20) or, as in the case of the Unfold-blog, to share knowledge on initiatives and projects carried out in the world concerning food and technology (see example 21).
(19) Win ice cream for a year! Cups and cones are classic ways to eat ice cream - challenge them! Give us new ideas on how to hold your ice cream, like in a licorice cone, a colourful macaron cookie or something even wilder.
Give us your idea in the comment field below for a chance to win free ice cream for a year – or even your very own ice cream flavor made for you!
Competition rules: http://bit.ly/1WBdykU (Facebook page June 29 2016)
(20) At 1,000 cartons of milk per day, Källsjö Dairy is our smallest customer in Sweden. But, every package counts, and so we're committed to helping them achieve their ambitions. Watch the film to learn more: http://bit.ly/28PcL9I (Facebook page June 23 2016)
(21) In a former steel mill in New Jersey, the world’s largest vertical farm is rethinking food for a growing population. Find out how leafy greens are being grown without sun, soil or pesticides: http://bit.ly/1OD92Ko (Facebook page May 20 2016)
5.2.2. Message channels
Organizations can choose a variety of communication channels to communicate their CSR activities. Generally, the choice is between internal or external communication channels, or a combination. The advantage of internal channels, which include annual reports, CSR reports, press releases and the like, is that the content is controlled solely by the organization (Du et al., 2010). The disadvantage is that these forms of channels are seen as less credible by stakeholders, as information can be presented in any way the organization likes it to (Du et al., 2010). In contrast, external channels such as word-of-mouth from
94 e.g. employees and customers, and media coverage from independent media and social media platforms are seen as more credible because the content is not wholly controlled by the organization (Du et al., 2010).
Specifically, Tetra Pak uses several channels to communicate its CSR activities, including its website, its online CSR report, press releases, advertising and postings on the social media platforms Twitter and Facebook. Using more channels to communicate CSR activities seems to be increasingly important, as according to KPMG’s International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011, “companies that continue to utilize only one channel of communication for their CR reporting will quickly find that they are losing ground to competitors who offer their data across multiple forms of media that appeal to a wider variety of stakeholder groups” (p. 20).
The current most used global standard for CSR reporting remains the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, which is used roughly by 80 % of the companies.
In Tetra Pak’s CSR report, it is stated that the report is created on the basis of the GRI guidelines (see example 22) and thus they include some specifically required elements such as the CEO letter or in the case of Tetra Pak the “CEO reflections”, the company’s vision & mission, and performance indicators.
(22) Our report is written to highlight the interconnectedness of our initiatives and approach, and richness of the value they generate. The specifics regarding measurements are developed in each section. We have used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework as reference for the development of this report. (Sustainability report 2013)
Following a web-based approach, Tetra Pak publishes its CSR reports online on its website, offering unlimited accessibility for stakeholders, unbound by time and space. This leads to an enhanced user experience that is further improved by multi-media options and customization, and possibly an easier facilitation of dialogue between the organization and a dispersed stakeholder group.
95 5.2.3. Commitment
As far as the company’s commitment to CSR is concerned, Du et al. (2010) state that organizations should communicate the importance of any issue engaged in and the organization’s level of commitment to any CSR activity by emphasizing factors such as commitment, impact, motives and fit between the cause and the organization.
CSR commitment includes the amount of input, the durability of the association and the consistency of input. The CSR commitment will give the readers an idea of how committed the organization actually is to a cause, and thus whether the engagement is sincere or merely a quick marketing stunt to increase profits (Du et al., 2010). For example, the authors found that stakeholders often use the durability to judge the motives of an organization, meaning that “longer- term commitments to a cause are seen as being driven by a sincere concern for society, whereas short-term commitments are seen as merely exploiting a cause to make profit”(Du et al., 2010:45).
The amount of input is stressed in many instances where Tetra Pak explains its activities. For example, the organization uses action processes to explain what it does and in what scope, as testified by the following excerpts taken from the section “Our approach”:
(23) We recently added our name to the Paris Pledge for Action, set up following the Paris Agreement on climate change. The businesses, cities, civil society groups and others that have joined the Pledge are committed to working to ensure that the ambition set out in the Agreement – to limit global warming to 2°C or less – is met or exceeded. (Sustainability report 2016)
(24) In early 2016, we signed up to RE100, a global network of leading companies set up by The Climate Group and CDP. In joining, we have committed to increase our use of renewable electricity from 22% today to 100% across all our global operations by 2030. (Sustainability report 2016)
96 Persuasive appeal is also used in some sections of the CSR reports, for example in the paragraph “Quality of Results” which evaluates the actual company’s performance:
(25) Electricity consumption in our factories has remained almost flat since 2005, while our business has grown over 30% during the same period. Audits of our own factories carried out by external energy experts have identified additional opportunities to reduce energy use by 10-12%. We are currently implementing these recommendations and sharing best practice across all our sites. (Sustainability report 2014)
(26) In 2015 we made significant progress achieving a 15% reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions against the 2010 baseline, at the same time as achieving a 16% increase in the number of packages sold. (Sustainability report 2015)
The reader of the CSR report is reminded of durability of the general CSR engagement in the section “Governance”, where Tetra Pak writes:
(27) For more than 50 years, we have worked with customers, governments, international and community-based organizations and farmers to provide milk and other nutritious drinks in schools around the world. (Sustainability report 2016)
(28) Since 2004, we have been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, and we are committed to ensuring that its 10 principles on environment, labor, anti-corruption and human rights are embedded across all of our operations.
(Sustainability report 2013)
(29) Our Strategy 2020 to deliver profitable growth, sustainably, is built around a 10-year business plan. Launched in 2010, it is designed to ensure we are best placed to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities that arise in our dynamic industry. (Sustainability report 2015)
The durability of specific actions is also stressed in the “Futures” section, where Tetra Pak emphasizes the continual nature of improving procedures to do well for the environment:
(30) We are continually working to develop our knowledge and provide our customers with new solutions to meet fast-changing market conditions and consumer demands around the world. We do this every day without losing focus on our number one priority: food safety. (Sustainability report 2013)
97 (31) Our long-term ambition is to offer packages made entirely from renewable resources, including polymers. In 2015, we launched our first such package, the Tetra Rex® Bio-based package, which uses polymers derived from sugarcane. As part of our sustainable approach to business we are continuously exploring new opportunities for using bio-based plastics. (Sustainability report 2015)
5.2.4 Impact
Another emphasis in CSR communication can be impact (Du et al., 2010).
Organizations can focus on the output of their CSR activities, i.e. the impact of the activity on its stakeholders.
In general, the CSR reports from Tetra Pak explicitly stress the exact importance of the causes that are supported, along with the importance of what Tetra Pak does within the field of CSR.
(32) The CAREton Project was launched in 2012, with the aim of building on Tetra Pak Malaysia’s existing work to promote recycling in partnership with our customer Nestlé. [..]Tetra Pak Malaysia first introduced carton recycling in 2005. At the time, recycling rates were negligible: the latest figures show a rate of 28.4%.
(Sustainability report 2016)
(33) During 2013, Tetra Pak Ecuador and the Food for Development Office supported the Government of Ecuador in developing an innovative nutritious drink milk with quinoa, a popular and highly nutritious local cereal. Quinoa is high in protein and a good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. It is also gluten- free and considered easy to digest. Milk with quinoa is packaged in Tetra Brik® Aseptic 200ml Slim cartons and is being distributed to 150,000 pre-school children as part of the school milk program in Ecuador. (Sustainability report 2013)
(34) Tetra Pak has been supporting governments and dairy processors in developing school feeding programs around the world since 1962. Programs address hunger and malnourishment, at the same time as stimulating local demand for agricultural products. In 2015, food or drinks in Tetra Pak packages reached 70m children around the world as part of a school feeding program, including via a new program in Peru where 175,000 children are now receiving local milk fortified with cereal and DHA in Tetra Brik® Aseptic 200 Slim packages, processed and packed by our local customers. (Sustainability report 2016)
98 NGOs and activist groups really like to see that what Tetra Pak does actually makes a difference and is relevant, that is why the company focuses a lot on the societal impact of its activities, as this would highlight the difference consumers can be part of making, if buying a Tetra Pak’s product.
5.2.5. Motives
CSR communication can, in addition to commitment and impact, focus on motives, which can be helpful in reducing stakeholder skepticism (Du et al., 2010). CSR is seen by many as done to improve businesses’ bottom line, i.e. that the motivation for philanthropic activities is purely economic. Stakeholders know that organizations have more motives when engaging in CSR, and that CSR activities usually benefit the organizations. Consequently, an organization may be best off by acknowledging in its CSR communication that its CSR activities are beneficial both to the supported CSR cause, but also to the organization itself.
Excerpt (35) below, taken from Tetra Pak’s 2015 report, provides one such example:
(35) We are committed to developing, designing and conducting our operations in a manner that minimizes environmental impacts, promotes the efficient use of resources, reduces our contribution to climate change and manages waste properly. This includes maximizing the recycling of factory waste and maximizing our company’s results. [..]Our products are a great contribution to society and many of them are made in response to consumers’
increasing demands for lower environmental impact and better recycling solutions. (Sustainability report 2015)
This passage clearly testifies to Tetra Pak’s strategy to frame its core business as intrinsically responsible of the contribution it makes to people’s lives. The passage starts with a pledge to socially responsible behavior, but while this opening suggests that the social responsibility of businesses is a goal to be pursued, the second sentence states that the company’s greatest contribution to society is represented by its products.
99 This enables Tetra Pak to present its activities as socially beneficial regardless of any additional action the company may engage in to meet the demands for socially responsible behavior that society expects it to fulfill.
In this way Tetra Pak succeeds, on the one hand, in collapsing profit motive and, on the other, in showing that the company is actively engaged in environmentally and socially responsible activities which extend further than what is normally expected from them.
This framing of CSR makes it possible for Tetra Pak to maintain a firm profit orientation even while claiming to adopt a social approach to business, thus establishing a continuity with past business practices, which are claimed to have always been ethical.
5.2.6. CSR fit
Du et al. (2010) state that it is important to communicate the CSR fit, i.e. the logical association between the CSR activity and the organization, if one such exists. This is so, as stakeholders expect such a fit, and as a lack of logical association between the organization and its CSR activities is likely to make extrinsic motives more outstanding, which increases negative reactions and skepticism towards CSR activities (Du et al., 2010).
The CSR activities that Tetra Pak shows support for in its CSR reports can be divided into different groups. From the report and the website, it is evident that Tetra Pak strives to improve its products, the materials it uses for the product packaging and finally, the impact its operations have on the environment and climate. There is a natural fit between the materials used for the products and the organization, and this is also the case with the packaging materials. Both groups are key to the final products of Tetra Pak and are therefore natural places to try to improve:
(36) Our long-term ambition is to develop a package made entirely from material from renewable sources. So in 2011, we started to source polymers from renewable sources and launched the industry’s first caps made using bio-based
100 polymers. As a result, all 13 billion packages we produce in Brazil will replace about 25%
of the fossil-based plastic material with plastic made from renewable sources.
(Sustainability report 2014)
Also, the aim to reduce the environmental impacts of its business is directly related to Tetra Pak business operations and procedures, for which reason a CSR fit is present:
(37) Using World Class Manufacturing (WCM) helps us to remove all kinds of losses across our operations. By avoiding losses of water and energy, and reducing waste, we automatically reduce our environmental impact (Sustainability report 2014)
(38) At the end of 2013, Tetra Pak launched a new version of Tetra Therm®
Aseptic Flex, a well-established processing unit used by dairies in making long-life milk, cream, yoghurt drinks and other products. The new version features a number of new innovations that further improve its performance, lowering costs and environmental impact. (Sustainability report 2015)
The deep-rooted and well-known values of Tetra Pak make the community involvement and the company’s activism seem logical: a link which is also presented in the CSR reports under the section “Community engagement”:
(39) We strive to play a responsible and active role in the communities in which we operate around the world, getting involved at a local level through a wide range of initiatives [...] we are well placed to act as a catalyst, bringing together various stakeholders to drive projects and initiatives that make a positive difference, like our school feeding programs and Dairy Hub initiatives. (Sustainability report 2015)
