Food processing and packaging solutions firm Tetra Pak is set to install a new solar photovoltaic (PV) panel array at its Denton, Texas campus.
Image: Tetra Pak leadership break ground on a new solar array at the company's Denton, Texas campus. Photo: courtesy of PRNewswire.
The solar array will generate 1,027,638 kWh of energy per year after installation, which is expected to be complete by the end of November.
The Denton campus, which is the company’s North American headquarters, houses offices, a pilot-scale food production facility and a factory that manufactures packaging material for Tetra Pak cartons.
Tetra Pak Americas & Southeast Asia and Oceania vice president of circular economy Jason Pelz said: “Using electricity from renewable resources makes sense for the environment and for business.
“It ensures we’re not tied to a finite resource to operate our business. And by lowering our environmental footprint, we’re also supporting our customers’ goals to reduce their overall climate impact.”
Tetra Pak is planning to use 100% renewable electricity in the US by 2019 and worldwide by 2030.
The company’s use of renewable electricity has increased by a factor of 2.5 worldwide in the last two years, up from 20% in 2016.
Tetra Pak said it achieved the growth via a combination of initiatives, including the purchase of international renewable energy certificates (I-RECs) and solar power installations such as the existing Denton project. The campus also houses a solar array on the roof.
At present, the company obtains half of its electricity supply from renewable sources, allowing it to meet its RE100 commitment of using only renewable electricity across all operations globally by 2030.
RE100 is a collaborative initiative uniting over 100 influential businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.
Tetra Pak’s plants in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and South Africa utilize electricity from 100% renewable sources and 17 of the company’s sites now run exclusively on renewable electricity.
The company is claimed to be the first to source Gold-Standard I-RECs in Thailand, where its local factory is set to generate a further1MW renewable energy from solar panels. Tetra Pak is a major purchaser of I-REC certificates in China.