UK – Müller Milk & Ingredients, one of the largest milk processors in Great Britain, plans to remove 500 tonnes of virgin plastics from its annual production of cream pots by switching to packaging made from recycled plastics that are planet-friendly.
The new pots have been rolled out across Müller’s 150ml and 300ml cream range and join its fresh milk bottles, which have been 100% recyclable for years and contain 30% recycled material.
The pots have been supplied by packaging business Faerch, while Müller is also developing packaging solutions for the remaining 25% volume for 2023.
So far, Müller said it has converted 75% of its cream volume to rPET pots, which are made from 82% recycled plastics and are 100% recyclable.
Liam McNamara, joint chief executive officer at Müller Milk & Ingredients, said: “It’s clear that shoppers want great dairy products in packaging which preserves their quality, safety, and shelf life whilst reducing environmental impact.”
We are continually searching for innovative solutions to use significantly less virgin plastic.”
Mark Tollman, group strategic sales director at Faerch commented that the company has worked closely with the Müller team to ensure the product had the highest level of recycled content possible, whilst maintaining the overall performance of the packaging through the supply chain.
Recently, the company also partnered with Waitrose to replace colored milk caps on fresh milk bottles with clear caps, with Aldi currently trialing them, to enable retention for reuse within the food sector.
Aldi said that if the trial would be successful, and rolled out to all Müller-supplied stores, an additional 60 tonnes of recycled high-density polyethylene could be turned back into food-grade packaging each year, as the colorless milk bottle caps can be reused to create new milk bottles.
In April, Müller Milk & Ingredients relaunched its branded liquid milk range, with a new pack design focusing on health, recyclability, and responsible sourcing.
The new design, according to the dairy, plays up the sustainability credentials of Müller farmers via its Advantage program, of which 95.5% of its supply base has signed up to be supplied, that aims to improve supply chain collaboration, herd health, and reductions in environmental impact.
The optimized designs are across the fresh milk range, which includes Müller Milk, Müller Milk organic, Müller Milk Extra, and Müller Mini Milk. It will roll out across Müller Butter and Müller Cream.
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