Mondelēz International targets rigid plastic cuts, calls for US Federal recycling scheme

08 Mar 2021 --- Mondelēz International (Mondelēz) is announcing new plans to cut virgin plastic in rigid plastic packaging by at least 25 percent by 2025. 

The goal comes as part of broader efforts to eliminate, reduce, replace and recycle plastic packaging across its portfolio.

Meanwhile, the snack giant is voicing support for introducing a US Federal recycling scheme, taking into account various plastic packaging types used across the industry.

While Mondelēz already claims to have a below-sector-average use of plastics in its portfolio by weight, the company is also targeting a 5 percent reduction in virgin plastic across its total portfolio.

Virgin plastic reductions will be achieved through a combination of measures, including eliminating plastic material, increasing recycled content and adopting reuse models “where it makes sense to do so.”

“We’re already one of the most efficient users of plastic packaging in the consumer goods space, and we’ve made significant strides to reduce plastic packaging use, substitute plastics for other materials and design for recyclability,” says Dirk Van de Put, Mondelēz chairman CEO.

Mondelēz reduces food waste with lightweight, flexible films.“Given the strong progress we’ve made in packaging, and our focus on leading a sustainable future for snacking, we’re committing to reductions in virgin plastics use and investments in innovation to remove packaging or switch to more easily recyclable materials.”

These commitments build on the company’s existing 2025 goals to use 5 percent recycled content by weight across its plastic packaging and design all packaging for recyclability.

Currently, 94 percent of Mondelēz’s packaging is designed for recycling, the company reports. PackagingInsights recently explored sustainability innovation in confectionery packaging.

US recycling scheme support
Mondelēz’s snacks portfolio uses lightweight, flexible films to protect food, reducing its plastic packaging footprint by weight and generating other environmental benefits such as reduced transportation emissions and prolonged shelf life.

While packaging can be increasingly designed for recyclability, recycling infrastructure improvements, such as those proposed under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, are needed globally, particularly for flexible films, the company states.

Mondelēz is lending its support for a “reasonable, Federal EPR scheme in the US that caters to flexible films, as well as other plastics.”

“Increasing recyclability of materials is a great start, but we need actual recycling rates of various materials to increase,” explains Christine Montenegro McGrath, vice president and chief of impact at Mondelēz.

“Compared to rigid plastics like PET, flexible plastic films, like the flow wraps we use on our snacks, are still difficult to collect, sort and reprocess economically because the infrastructure doesn’t exist yet for this to be done at scale.”

“We are committed to playing our part to improve this, including partnering with stakeholders across sectors to drive action to combat plastics pollution.”Mondelēz supports a “reasonable, Federal EPR scheme in the US that caters to flexible films, as well as other plastics.”

Mondelēz’s global alliances
Mondelēz is an active participant in the Consumer Goods Forum Plastic Coalition of Action, the Business Call for a global UN Treaty on Plastics Pollution, the US Plastics Pact, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, the New Plastics Economy Initiative, the European CEFLEX initiative, the UK Plastics Pact and the UK Flexible Plastic Fund (formerly known as EPPIC), and the Australia and New Zealand Plastics Pact, among others.

The company reports transparently on progress against its environmental and social sustainability commitments in the “Snacking Made Right Report,” published annually in early May.

Mondelēz currently invests over US$30 million a year in technology, resources and recycling infrastructure and anticipates an acceleration in this investment over time.

Between 2019 and 2025, the company expects to invest approximately US$300 million in plastics packaging sustainability.

In related news, Reynolds Consumer Products’ Hefty EnergyBag program has diverted more than two million pounds of hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills in the US.

This year, Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, is partnering WestRock and Nexus to collect 100 tons of typically unrecyclable plastics through a local Hefty EnergyBag program.

Edited by Joshua Poole