Tag Archives: packaging

Magnum launch tubs made from recycled plastic

Unilever has launched Magnum ice cream in tubs made from recycled polypropylene plastic packaging – a first in the ice cream industry.

Magnum launch tubs made from recycled plastic

Up to 600,000 tubs are now available across Europe, with millions more to roll out globally.

The move is part of Unilever’s wider global commitment to ensure that at least 25% of its plastic packaging will come from post-consumer recycled content by 2025.

Julien Barraux, vice president Magnum, said: “We are proud to be one of the world’s first food brands to pioneer this ground-breaking technology.”

The tubs are available in Belgium, Spain and The Netherlands, with over three million more due to be launched globally in 2020.

McDonald’s to cut plastic packaging

McDonald’s UK is to remove single-use plastics from its salads range and plastic lids from all McFlurry ice creams, in a drive to reduce plastic packaging.

McDonald's

All main meal and side salads will be served in 100% renewable and recyclable cardboard containers instead of single-use plastic.

Changing out the existing plastic bowl, shaker salad cups and lids will result in 102 metric tons of plastic being removed annually.

McDonald's

The fast-food giant is also ditching plastic lids from all McFlurry ice creams from September which it said will reduce plastic waste by 383 metric tonnes annually.

The new salad and meal containers are made from carton board which contains 50% recycled content and 50% new, which itself comes from certified sustainable sources.

The coating on the containers, designed to keep them rigid, is also 100% renewable.

In total, the new packaging across the McFlurry and salads range will reduce plastic waste by 485 metric tonnes annually, said McDonald’s.

Beth Hart, Supply Chain Director, McDonald’s UK & Ireland said: “Removing plastic lids from the McFlurry, and introducing new cardboard packaging for salads, will save nearly 500 metric tonnes of plastic a year. It’s the latest step in our sustainability journey.

“We are committed to listening to our customers and finding solutions with our suppliers that work for them, this is the latest example of that – but by no means the end. We continue to look for solutions for our cutlery and lids, for example, but this is great progress. For us, sustainability is about more than just packaging. We have to look at the whole journey – by 2030 we’re committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 36%.”

Waitrose launches home compostable ready meal packaging

Waitrose has launched what it says is the world’s first home compostable ready meal packaging as it aims to move nine million products out of black plastic.

Waitrose launches home compostable ready meal packaging

Working with Huhtamaki, the new containers, which are fibre based and similar in texture to cardboard, are now certified home compostable for the first time.

Its suppliers Huhtamaki and Saladworks produced the packaging which can be heated in the oven and microwave and is cool to touch after cooking. The fiber-based packaging is Forest Stewardship Council certified, creates a 50% saving in Co2 emissions, and can also be recycled.

The packaging innovation will initially replace many of the retailer’s Italian ready meal trays, saving 158 tonnes of black plastic.

Karen Graley, manager, packaging & reprographics, Waitrose & Partners, said: “Pioneering the first home compostable ready meal packaging that ensures customers can continue to cook their food quickly, safely, and now more sustainably, is a major breakthrough in packaging innovation. This step – combined with moving millions of ready meals out of black plastic – is a significant milestone in how we package food and eliminate hard to recycle material for good.”

The new Italian ready meal packaging will be available in Waitrose & Partners shops at the end of this month and will include Chilli Prawn Spaghetti, Broccoli Orecchiette, and Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Bake.

Highland Spring to roll out recycled plastic eco bottles

Highland Spring set to launch its eco bottle, made from 100% recycled plastic.

Following a successful 2018 trial, the Highland Spring eco bottle will launch this month will join the existing Highland Spring natural source water range, where all bottles are 100% recyclable.

The bottle is made from 100% recycled plastic, although the label and cap are not made from recycled plastic; bottle, label and cap are 100% recyclable.

The mineral water giant said its consumers had expressed a ‘significant’ desire for more eco bottles at trial stage, and this launch will be followed by more 100% recycled and recyclable plastic eco bottles later in the year.

Highland Spring Group Chief Executive, Les Montgomery, said: “We are grateful to shoppers who gave us their thoughts and feedback, throughout the trial. They asked us to make the eco bottle a permanent addition to the Highland Spring family and we are proud to say that is exactly what we have done.

“Increasing our use of recycled plastic is an absolute priority for Highland Spring and this is a hugely exciting step in our mission to provide healthy hydration choices in environmentally sustainable ways. We hope that having innovative products such as the eco bottle in supermarkets alongside 100% recyclable bottles will help shoppers understand more about plastic as a valuable resource that should not be treated as waste.”

PepsiCo aims for 50% rPET by 2030

PepsiCo has announced its goal to achieve 50% recycled plastic (rPET) by 2030 across the European Union.

PepsiCo aims for 50% rPET by 2030

The soft drinks firm has an interim target of 45% by 2025.  Through this target, the company will more than triple the amount of recycled plastic it uses, equating to over 50,000 tonnes of rPET.

The announcement comes in support of the European Commission’s voluntary recycled plastics pledging campaign to ensure that by 2025, ten million tonnes of recycled plastics are used to make new products in the EU market.  PepsiCo’s goal covers all countries expected to be members of the EU in 2025, and all the company’s beverage brands in PET (the primary plastic used in its bottles) including Pepsi, Pepsi MAX, 7Up, Tropicana and Naked.  The goal will apply across PepsiCo’s Beverage operations, including company-owned and franchise.

Today’s announcement builds on PepsiCo’s broader, global Performance with Purpose vision, which includes a goal to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable or biodegradable and to reduce its packaging’s carbon impact by 2025.  The company estimates that currently, 90% of its beverage packaging worldwide is fully recyclable.

PepsiCo is already a significant user of food-grade recycled plastic (rPET) in the EU, using approximately 13% rPET in its EU beverage operations in 2017.

Silviu Popovici, president, PepsiCo Europe Sub-Saharan Africa commented:  “At PepsiCo, we take our responsibility to protect the environment seriously and are steadfast in our commitment to finding sustainable ways to create our products.  We have been on a mission in the European Union to advance a culture that encourages and supports recovery and recycling of packaging.  Today, I am very happy to announce that we will now go much further in the use of recycled plastics in our packaging, as we work to meet and exceed this new target in the years ahead.

“Developing an effective, long-term approach to sustainable packaging requires a multifaceted effort, and PepsiCo is committed to collaborating with the many stakeholders involved to ensure it succeeds in developing a Circular Economy for plastics into the future.  With serious under-capacity in the supply of affordable recycled plastics suitable for food packaging, we call on public and private stakeholders in the recycling system, including the European Commission, to join us and make the needed investments to expand recycling capacity.  Provided the right progress is made in increasing packaging recovery rates, and improving reprocessing technology, we will look to go even further than our current commitment.”

The company also works with multiple stakeholders to support packaging sustainability, including being a member of the New Plastics Economy, a three-year initiative led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to build momentum towards a plastics system that works.

A critical part of increasing the availability of recycled plastics, suitable for re-use in packaging, is ensuring that bottles are placed in the recycling system, rather than littering the environment.  In addition to participating in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes across the EU, PepsiCo is partnering on programmes to increase recovery and recycling rates.  These include initiatives to promote and educate consumers on recycling, including on-pack labelling campaigns, such as “jede Dose zaehlt”/ Every Can Counts in Austria and “Vous triez, nous recyclons”, a consumer campaign in France, promoting the importance of sorting waste to ensure recyclability of plastic bottles.