Nestlé teams with TerraCycle for confectionery closed-loop recycling program
17 Jun 2019 --- Nestlé has formed a closed-loop recycling program with waste management specialist TerraCycle in the UK & Ireland for its confectionery flexible plastic packaging. Pouches, bags and wrappers from single bars, blocks and multipacks will now be accepted through the Confectionery Recycling Program, which takes the accumulated waste and turns it into new plastic items.
Including popular brands like KitKat, Milkybar and Aero, consumers are encouraged to deposit used wrappers in their local TerraCycle bin. TerraCycle then accumulates the waste before sending it to a specialist recycler to be turned into plastic pellets. These pellets are sold to plastic manufacturers who can create new, solid plastic products like chairs and storage boxes.
Transforming the sustainability of food and drink packaging is a major priority for Nestlé worldwide and the company has the ambition to make all of its packaging either recyclable or reusable by 2025. The ultimate goal for the Nestlé confectionery portfolio is to find ways to remove non-recyclable materials and develop recyclable alternatives where possible.
The partnership with TerraCycle and the launch of The Confectionery Recycling Program provides an immediate option for the recycling of existing confectionery packs and wrappers while new packaging technology is being worked on.
Over-packaging and non-recyclability are the two big issues that confectionery packaging must overcome in order to reach higher levels of sustainability, Ariane Van Mancius, Packaging Innovation Expert and Owner of Now New Next, tells PackagingInsights.
“Brands put effort into premiumization but often use a lot of packaging material as a result. These brands need to be creative to create the luxury feeling but without using too much material,” she notes.
According to a Censuswide survey, 6 out of 10 people said they were prepared to pay extra for Easter eggs that had more environmentally-friendly packaging, with 76 percent of Millennials prepared to pay a premium for such a product.
“Nestlé has a lot of people around the world working very hard on new options for our packaging and it’s very clear that how we pack our confectionery will look very different in five years’ time. But people want to recycle their chocolate and sweet wrappers right now and that’s why we are working with TerraCycle to make this option available immediately while we work on alternatives,” explains Anna Turrell, Head of Sustainability for Nestlé in the UK & Ireland.
Last year, Nestlé revealed its ambition to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 and, in December, announced the creation of the Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences. The institute, founded in Lausanne, Switzerland will employ around 50 people and will be dedicated to developing functional, safe and environmentally friendly packaging.
Meanwhile, in April last year, Nestlé became a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact, launched by sustainability experts WRAP. The Pact is designed to bring together businesses, government and NGOs to work alongside each other with the aim of reducing the impact of plastic waste around the world.
The Nestlé Confectionery and TerraCycle tie-up has begun in the UK and will commence in Ireland soon. Shoppers will start to see the TerraCycle logo on the back of confectionery packs over the coming weeks and months.
The Confectionery Recycling Programme operates via a network of public drop off locations and shoppers can go to www.terracycle.co.uk/confectionery to find their nearest recycling point. Those interested in the scheme can apply to setup a new collection point to serve their community if they don’t have one nearby. Supermarkets, independent shops, coffee shops, community centers, schools, nurseries and churches are all acting as public locations.
In a similar move, Kellogg’s announced in October that it had entered an agreement with TerraCycle to enable consumers to recycle Pringles cans using Freepost labels. However, this particular scheme has received criticism in some quarters, with UK Recycling Association Chief Executive, Simon Ellin, claiming that “Pringles cans are still a nightmare to recycle.” Ellin believes that Pringles cans should undergo a redesign so that they are readily recyclable in existing streams.
By Joshua Poole
