300m Cadbury Bars to be Wrapped in 80% Recycled Plastic
Packaging is a significant sustainability hurdle for the food and drink sector, particularly snack and confectionery manufacturers.
These products require packaging that not only protects contents but is also portable, durable and light.
Amid the modern fast-paced lifestyle, disposable snack wrappers and containers frequently end up littering public spaces, exacerbating sustainability issues.
Addressing such challenges, Mondelēz International is taking notable strides with its Cadbury brand. The company has announced its mainline sharing bars will soon feature 80% certified recycled plastic packaging.
This step will incorporate the largest proportion of recycled flexible plastic within the global Cadbury brand portfolio.
By 2025, this initiative aims to transform around 300 million Cadbury sharing bars across the UK and Ireland, enhancing environmental sustainability of the brand's core tablet range.
This transformative launch will occur in phases.
Enhancing consumer interaction and education
Alongside alterations in packaging, Cadbury is set to interact with its consumers regarding this sustainable via QR codes, redirecting people to detailed explanations about Cadbury’s journey towards sustainability and outlining the mass balance approach.
The QR code also allows consumers to access the Recycle Now locator provided by WRAP. This feature aids in identifying local centres for the collection and recycling of diverse packaging materials, aligning consumer habits with sustainable practices.
The success of this sustainable packaging feat is credited to Mondelēz's collaboration with Amcor and Jindal Films, leaders in producing recyclable films suitable for flexible packaging.
Kyra Chavalés, Global Key Account Manager at Amcor, says: “Mondelēz International’s implementation of the AmFiniti™ solution is a major step towards further advancing recycled plastic packaging across the global confectionary market.
“Amcor continues to work alongside our partners — such as Mondelēz — to enable brands to meet rising consumer demand for more responsible packaging, advance sustainability goals, and comply with upcoming EU regulations.”
Amcor's innovative AmFiniti™ solution significantly contributes to this initiative by processing post-consumer plastic waste into new food-grade products, ensuring the use of 80% certified recycled plastic in the packaging of Cadbury products.
Tackling plastic recycling complexities
Addressing the challenge of plastic recycling is complex due to several factors such as the diversity of plastic types, distinct melting points and the design of multiple-layered plastics which complicates the separation process.
The recycling of plastics consumes a substantial amount of energy and the reutilisation could potentially increase the toxicity of materials.
Recognising the urgency, Helen Bird, Head of Material System Transformation at WRAP, emphasises the critical nature of incorporating advanced recycling technologies.
"The biggest recycling challenge is plastic wrapping - collecting it at scale, sorting and recycling it into new things - ideally packaging," she says.
"Recycling this type of plastic back into food packaging can only be achieved through advanced recycling technologies.
"WRAP is delighted to hear that UK Plastics Pact member Mondelēz is rolling out the use of certified recycled plastic in its Cadbury sharing bars. This is the future and must be scaled far and wide across other companies and products ranges."
Cadbury: Pioneering confectionery innovation
Cadbury, the world's second-largest confectionery brand after Mars, operates in more than 50 countries.
Founded in Birmingham in 1824, Cadbury has led manufacturing innovation in food and confectionery.
The brand improved cocoa formulas using a Dutch-developed press to remove unpalatable cocoa butter. In 1868, Cadbury introduced 'Fancy Boxes', decorated chocolate assortments for Valentine's Day. It also created the first modern chocolate Easter egg using pure cocoa butter mouldable into smooth shapes.
Acquired by Mondelēz in 2010, Cadbury continues to innovate in both products and packaging.
“This is the latest move in our journey to increase our use of post-consumer recycled plastic across our Cadbury tablets portfolio in the UK&I” says Louise Stigant, SVP and UK&I Managing Director, Mondelēz International.
“We remain focused on our long-term aim to offer more sustainable packaging, in particular flexible plastic packaging using advanced recycling technologies. For us this is based around a three-part approach aimed at reducing our packaging, evolving, and designing our packaging to be recyclable and improving systems by supporting the development of UK infrastructure and capabilities to collect, sort and recycle it back into food contact packaging.”
Robbie Staniforth, Director of Innovation and Policy at Ecosurety, adds: "We're pleased to see Mondelēz taking this step towards increasing their use of recycled flexible plastic packaging and help lead the way to drive change right across the industry.
"The public wants to see full circularity for flexible plastic packaging and with this high-profile innovation, Mondelēz demonstrates what can be achieved when a company puts its mind to it. We look forward to more brands following their lead."
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