Lund University and Tetra Pak have recently signed a five-year strategic partnership agreement, expanding on their rich history of collaboration on packaging logistics, food technology and packaging materials. Together, Lund University and Tetra Pak will aim to create new industry-academia development opportunities, promote the sharing of resources and competencies, explore opportunities to enrich ideas, and create a platform of exchange between students and professionals.

Collaborative working is key to how Tetra Pak operates as a business and this partnership makes no exception especially to collectively address areas such as circular and bio-based economy. Industry-academia cooperation is critical for the company to fostering new solutions within the food value chain and perfecting numerous industrial processes. By collaborating with Lund University, Tetra Pak has been able to advance the mixing of industrial emulsified products and the forming of new package shapes and formats. As another instance of their numerous joint-collaboration activities, both players are core members of Treesearch, Sweden's largest research collaboration platform to develop new and sustainable materials from forest resources.

Torbjörn von Schantz, vice-chancellor of Lund University, said: "Tetra Pak is a key strategic partner and we have collaborated for many years. As we now deepen, broaden, and formalise this cooperation, we see even greater opportunities to develop excellent research, knowledge, and innovations together, while strengthening the region's attractiveness. Academia and industry need to work closely in the long-term to solve complex societal challenges such as sustainability, which is very much in focus for this collaboration."

Laurence Mott, Executive Vice President, Development & Engineering and R&D, Tetra Pak, concluded: "Close collaboration between industry and academia is an essential component of Tetra Pak's innovation effort. The partnership with Lund University provides Tetra Pak access to cutting edge academic competencies and will create new opportunities for staff, students and Tetra Pak employees alike. We are thrilled to formalize this agreement. Together we can tackle some of the fundamental challenges faced by our industry, and ultimately better support our customers and consumers globally."

Pictured: Laurence Mott​, Executive Vice President, Development & Engineering Tetra Pak