From automotive components to school desks and warehouse pallets, used beverage cartons are quietly being reborn as durable, everyday essentials — and Tetra Pak is helping drive this shift. In an exclusive interview with IBT, Kamlesh Kholiya, Sustainability Lead at Tetra Pak India, breaks down how the company is going far beyond its food packaging roots to build a robust circular economy in India.
He discusses how partnerships with recyclers and innovators are unlocking the value of polyAl — the often-overlooked polymer and aluminum layer in cartons — and how voluntary EPR efforts, community engagement, and scalable applications are helping mainstream recycled materials. With applications already scaling in furniture, retail, logistics, and even automotive sectors, the company is proving that packaging waste can fuel real industrial reuse — if the ecosystem is built right.
IBT: What was the initial vision or ‘eureka moment’ that propelled Tetra Pak to transform carton waste? Where did you first spot these offbeat opportunities, moving beyond traditional recycling streams?
Kamlesh Kholiya: It really wasn’t a Eureka moment, so to speak. Our motivation has always been rooted in our brand promise — “Protects What’s Good” — which includes food, people, and the planet. It was natural for us to do the right thing, even in the absence of any legislative pressures or public awareness. As we looked closely at the life cycle of our cartons, we recognized a clear opportunity: while the paperboard in our cartons was already being recycled extensively by paper mills, other components like polyAl (polymer and aluminium) were underutilized in the recycling value chain. That insight became our turning point.
Rather than trying to do everything ourselves, we focused on finding the right partners — recyclers, innovators, and end-users — who could unlock the full potential of all components of a used carton. Deluxe Recycling, Eastern Cargo, Khatima Fibers, ITC and many more likeminded organizations joined us on the journey, and today, thanks to these collaborations, carton waste in India is being transformed into roofing sheets, school furniture, retail displays, pallets, and even automotive components.
One key motivation was also our realization that the used cartons are not just a resource for the end user but also for those involved in the waste-picking process. By also segregating cartons from other waste they could generate additional income, thereby improving their lives in general. So, the impact of recycling on the entire ecosystem became our source of inspiration.
IBT: How do you ensure quality and safety when recycling your polymer/aluminum composites into demanding applications like furniture, roofing, or automotive interiors?
Kamlesh Kholiya: It all starts with the integrity of the original packaging material. Our beverage cartons are made from high-quality paperboard, polymers, and aluminum, all designed to meet stringent food safety standards. This gives us a strong foundation to work with. The qualities which make carton a food safe package also provide it the necessary strength and bonding required for recycled products that are manufactured post recycling of the cartons.
Once cartons are collected and sorted, our recycler partners process each stream — paper, polyAl, and composite — using specialised techniques. For example, cartons are shredded and converted under high temperature and pressure into dense, durable boards. These boards are then tested and certified by our partners to meet the required performance criteria — whether it’s for strength, durability, or resistance to heat and moisture. The recycling partners conduct relevant quality and safety tests for strength, fire resistance, water resistance, corrosion, termite resistance, etc. to ensure quality of recycled products from carton recycling
We also follow global best practices like the Design for Recycling guidelines and ensure that our materials align with relevant ISO or ASTM standards when repurposed.
IBT: How do your recycled polyAI composite boards directly compare in durability and properties to traditional engineered wood products or conventional plastic composites, especially in terms of durability, moisture resistance, and load capacity?
Kamlesh Kholiya: While each end application has its own benchmarks, polyAl-based boards produced by our recycler partners have consistently shown strong performance in terms of moisture resistance, thermal insulation, structural integrity, and durability.
For instance, roofing sheets made from polyAl are rust-proof and offer thermal comfort — up to 5–7°C cooler than conventional materials like cement or metal. Pallets made from recycled cartons are lightweight, reusable, and hygienic, while also reducing dependence on virgin plastic, and these pallets have a load bearing strength of 5 tons while storage as per our recycling partner
It’s important to note that these innovations originate with the recyclers. Our role is to support their efforts by ensuring a steady supply of high-quality material, co-developing viable business models, and helping raise awareness of recycled product potential.
IBT: Beyond current uses like roofing and furniture, what other industries or product categories are you actively exploring or seeing adoption for these recycled carton boards? Are there specific plans for automotive applications?
Kamlesh Kholiya: We’re seeing exciting developments across multiple sectors. In addition to roofing and furniture, recycled carton material is being used in retail displays, crates, pallets, point-of-sale stands, school desks, and garden benches — all driven by the creativity of our recycler partners.
Globally, we’ve seen the material being used in automotive interiors, such as dashboards and door panels, through collaborations with manufacturers like Fiat. While Tetra Pak is not the end-producer of these applications, we enable the ecosystem — connecting recyclers, innovators, and industries to make such applications possible.
IBT: What product standards, certifications, or testing rigs must Tetra Pak materials pass before being repurposed into industrial or structural applications?
Kamlesh Kholiya: Currently, there are no universal or material-specific standards that apply directly to Tetra Pak cartons themselves, as the recycled end-products differ significantly in composition and properties from the original packaging.
In practice, standards and certifications are applied to the final recycled product, depending on its intended use. For example, when used to manufacture pallets, the relevant standard is BIS 16058:2024, which covers dunnage pallets made from recycled packaging waste for warehousing applications.
Therefore, compliance is assessed at the level of the recycled output—such as sheets, boards, or pallets—rather than the input material (i.e., used cartons).
IBT: Are there regulatory/quality assurance, cost, or supply chain hurdles in scaling these “second life” applications? Or does the challenge lie more in building market awareness and demand?
Kamlesh Kholiya: It’s a combination of both. On the supply side, setting up industrial-scale recycling infrastructure requires capital investment, technology, and reliable input streams. That’s a challenge faced when recyclers evaluate dedicated recycling lines for cartons. The fundamental issue is a lack of segregation of waste at source, that can ensure a steady supply of feedstock for the recyclers.
On the demand side, awareness is still low. Many businesses and consumers are unaware that high-quality furniture, roofing, or pallets can come from recycled cartons. So, there’s work to be done in building trust in recycled materials — through pilot projects, case studies, and visible public applications.
IBT: How is a consistent, high-quality waste stream ensured?
Kamlesh Kholiya: Consistency begins with carton design — our packages are made to be recyclable. But it takes a robust value chain to recover them effectively. We work with over 30 collection partners and 8 recyclers across 26 states and union territories, including the Indian Army. And this is all voluntary EPR for us, simply because we believe that this is the right thing to do.
We also run awareness campaigns like ‘Go Green with Tetra Pak’, ‘Mera Carton Meri Zimmedari’, to build household-level participation. Combined with our Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives, this has helped us recycle over 40% of the cartons distributed in India. However, no one company can do this alone & there is still a long way to go. The whole industry to actively support collection & recycling.
IBT: Could Tetra Pak’s composite materials realistically replace conventional materials at scale? For example, as structural panels in modular homes or vehicle interiors? What would that transition require?
Kamlesh Kholiya: In fact, some applications from the composite sheets made from carton recycling have already been scaled and have replaced conventional materials, e.g., as per our recycling partner, 80% of seats of 3-wheeler autos in India use the recycled composite sheets, major warehousing corporations in India like Food corporation of India, use the recycled pallets for their warehousing and storage operations. This goes to show, with right awareness and value proposition, the recycled products demand can scale up, as it is a function of infeed quality, cost efficiency in operations, and awareness from customers to increase demand.
In terms of raw material, We believe recycled carton components — especially polyAl and composite boards — have strong potential to replace conventional materials at scale. The performance benchmarks are being met, and the environmental benefits are clear.
To make this mainstream, we need policy push, industry buy-in, and consumer awareness. Adoption in modular homes, school infrastructure, and logistics applications is already picking up. With the right collaborations, we can accelerate this shift from niche to norm.
IBT: Which innovation challenge has been toughest to crack: efficient polymer recovery, composite board standardization, or building the recycling ecosystem in India?
Kamlesh Kholiya: All are challenging, but the most complex and critical has been ecosystem building. Of this, the most difficult is the first step, recovering cartons from waste through efficient segregation. Once the collection is in place, fiber recycling has an established market. But recovering and recycling polyAl or creating demand for composite boards requires a combination of technology, scale, partnerships, and market linkage.
India is diverse — in infrastructure, regulation, and consumption habits. Building a system that works across geographies and sectors has been our biggest learning and our biggest achievement.
IBT: How do you perceive the biggest gaps in India’s current recycling infrastructure especially for aseptic packaging and what’s Tetra Pak doing to bridge them?
Kamlesh Kholiya: While progress has been made, infrastructure for multi-material packaging like aseptic cartons still needs strengthening. Challenges include limited segregation and cleaning capacity, low public awareness, low policy push to integrate recycled materials into mainstream products, and low willingness from different stakeholders to lead the change
We’re tackling this by:
We have always been ahead of the curve, supporting the ecosystem and the government’s ambitions. We have done voluntary EPR for over 20 years, we were among the first to introduce compostable straws & paper straws in our industry in India, we introduced plat-based caps, and most recently, we became the first company to meet the govt mandate of integrating 5% recycled polymers in carton packaging. We do believe that India can truly lead the sustainability transformation of the world at large, and we are prepared to be a strong partner on this journey.
IBT: Looking ahead, which collaboration models excite you most — R&D partnerships, startups reinventing Tetra Pak waste, or regulatory nudges that could spark industrial reuse at scale?
Kamlesh Kholiya: Honestly, we don’t think it’s an either/or — the most powerful change comes when all three converge.
At Tetra Pak, we’re proud to sit at the intersection — connecting all these players to accelerate a circular future.
Kamlesh Kholiya, Sustainability Manager, Tetra Pak South Asia
Tetra Pak is a global leader in providing complete solutions for the processing, packaging, and distribution of food products. From dairy, juices, and ice cream to dry foods, fruits, vegetables, and pet food, the company’s systems are designed to handle a wide variety of products with efficiency and care.
Its offerings are divided into five core categories: Packages, Processing Equipment, Filling Machines, Distribution Equipment, and Service Products. Tetra Pak places strong emphasis on sustainability, aiming to minimize the consumption of energy and raw materials throughout both production and distribution. The company’s processing solutions are also engineered to treat food products gently, ensuring quality and safety from start to finish.
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