Presidente da Tetra Pak Brasil, Marco Dorna, no DCmais

Thank you for the invitation. It's a true honor to be part, even in a small way, of a centennial newspaper — 116 years, as I learned today, telling the story of the Campos and the city of Ponta Grossa. Thank you.

Tetra Pak was born in 1951, a Swedish company, through the work of its founder, Ruben Rausing, who created the concept that a package should cost less than what it saves — the ability to produce aseptic products and distribute them over long distances without preservatives and without refrigeration. This powerful idea found Brazil as the second country through the internationalization process, after Sweden itself. So we've been in Brazil since 1958. Globally, we have approximately 25,000 employees in more than 160 countries. In Brazil, we are the third-largest operation of the group, with two major factories — one here in Ponta Grossa and another in Monte Mor — six regional offices, and 1,600 employees serving more than 300 clients. Although we're known for the carton, which is indeed one of our main products, we are actually the world leader in processing solutions and equipment for the food industry. All equipment for producing products that don't go in cartons — like cheese or ice cream — is also part of our portfolio. We have the packaging area and technical services, and we like to present ourselves as the best end-to-end partner for all client needs in the food industry.

We could do two interviews because talking about our pride in being part of Ponta Grossa's history is wonderful. We arrived in Brazil in 1958, our first factory was installed in Monte Mor in 1978, and the Ponta Grossa factory arrived in 1998-99. It was born with the concept of being the most efficient in the world, which evolved over time. Today the Ponta Grossa factory is the fourth-largest in the world out of more than 30 factories, recognized worldwide within our group for its performance and operational efficiency. Here we produce about 1.5 billion packages, 60% for the domestic market and 40% exported to various countries. It's a major export center and a reference within Tetra Pak. We produce packaging for milk, juice, formulated products like fermented milk, flavored milk, proteins, and refreshing beverages. With approximately 333 direct employees, it represents the fourth-largest factory with some of the best operational efficiency levels in the world. It's a great pride — whenever we talk about Ponta Grossa, we see the highest levels within our group.

Now we're talking about sustainability — that's another chapter, you'll have to invite me again if you give me the honor. For a company in the food segment serving the clients we serve, sustainability can't be just one pillar — it must be the company's entire strategy. Every raw material Tetra Pak uses — paper, plastic, and aluminum — 100% must be properly certified, sourced from national suppliers like Klabin and Braskem. We benchmark against certifying organizations to ensure we're on the right track. For the fourth consecutive year, we appear on the CDP list, a European organization certifying environmental efforts. We're signatories to the UN Global Compact, the Paris Agreement, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. We were the first food company to have targets approved by Science Based Targets, showing the effort needed to be carbon-neutral per the Paris Agreement. Our commitment is to be neutral in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 within operations and by 2050 across the entire chain. We have the global challenge of creating the world's most sustainable food packaging — 100% renewable and recyclable, zero carbon. Today about 88% of a milk carton already comes from renewable sources, including paper and sugarcane-based plastic. We have packages tested with recycled plastic content and innovations ranging from paper straws to transforming our main product into something renewable, recyclable, and zero carbon. Sustainability must be the essence of what we do, and no complete plan is possible without biodiversity. Tetra Pak launched the 'Guardians of the Araucárias' project, born here in Brazil, with the ambition to reforest and preserve 7,000 hectares by working with small and medium rural producers — promoting the idea that a forest is worth more standing than felled. We chose the Atlantic Forest and Araucárias because less than 12% of the biome's natural cover remains, and for Araucárias it's just 3%. Over 10 years in Paraná and Santa Catarina, we'll work through payments for environmental services, ecotourism, and natural extraction to change the culture around preservation.

More than 25 years ago, when little was spoken about sustainability, we had already developed technology for recycling the carton. It's composed of paper, polyethylene, and aluminum — and today it's 100% recyclable. You can recycle the paper and give it new life, as well as the plastic and aluminum, which find various applications, mainly in roofing tiles and construction materials. The technology was the first barrier, but the main challenge is supporting and promoting the recycling chain. We've supported over 600 cooperatives in their structuring and machinery for proper material separation. Today more than 30 recyclers in Brazil give new life to these materials, working toward our ambition of a circular, low-carbon economy. The main challenges in Brazil are selective collection — only about 20% of municipalities have it — and environmental education. We must convince people of the importance of separating organic from recyclable waste. We'll never stop supporting these efforts, ensuring everyone in the recycling chain is fairly compensated. About one million people work as waste pickers in Brazil, and the social impact of promoting proper disposal is undoubtedly positive. It's a subject that captivates us, and a great part of our time is dedicated to doing more and better in this area.

Tetra Pak Brazil is known worldwide as a great breeding ground for talent. About 190 Brazilians work at Tetra Pak outside of Brazil — more than 15% of our workforce is abroad, bringing knowledge. This fills us with pride and is the result of a historical culture. We've been in Brazil over 65 years with non-negotiable values: quality, inclusion, and the ability to listen to everyone. We increasingly embrace a more diverse world — diversity is perhaps our greatest competitive advantage. We formalized a diversity committee last year with six pillars of action, from hiring to infrastructure, covering race, gender, and generational diversity. In partnership with SENAI, we developed a plan to prepare 20 women for the factory environment. We have an internal project called 'ForShe' for accelerating female leadership at all levels, and 'Women in Engineering' — today over 60% of our engineering team are women. When it comes to diversity, we know we'll make mistakes, but we'll never shy away from action. In Ponta Grossa, we are recruiting — it's a factory that has delivered continuous growth for 24 years, not just quantitatively but qualitatively in portfolio expansion and countries served. We're at the forefront of Industry 4.0 discussions, and the Ponta Grossa factory is an icon for us worldwide.

Above all, it's the commitment to the long term. We are a family-owned company, in Brazil for 65 years, and at no point have we taken our eyes off supporting our clients' development. Our clients' success is at the center of everything we do. We love waking up every morning remembering what we do and who we do it for, knowing that we're part of the solutions to the world's great problems. It's a pride here in Paraná — I won't list names or I'll forget some and they'll be upset. But the ability to create futures and bring the future to the present, together with our clients, is what motivates us. Commitment to the long term, commitment to the communities where we operate — Ponta Grossa is fundamental for us. I just returned from a conversation with the factory team who presented an improvement project born from local creativity that can be expanded to the whole group — Brazilian creativity exported to the world. It's a shock of energy and vitality to return to Ponta Grossa because this place represents a milestone for us. We're not here for the short term — we're here to stay, to grow, to expand, and to impact the community in the best way possible.

Look us up on social media — there are other options, a world of opportunities. There are 192 Brazilians working outside of Brazil. We joke it's 'University Brazil' — come be part of the team. We're passionate about receiving different perspectives, different people, different opinions. So come without fear — we love welcoming people.

Thank you once again for the invitation. I'll return whenever invited. I'd like to congratulate you on the wonderful work you do — this centennial work. Congratulations!