UK/IRELAND- Nestlé Confectionery has announced that Quality Street will switch to recyclable paper packaging for its twist-wrapped candies while KitKat will launch wrappers composed of 80% recycled plastic.
More than two billion pieces of packaging will be eliminated from the Quality Street supply chain by switching the double layer of foil and cellulose with a paper wrap.
The wrapper is the result of a collaboration between Nestlé’s Confectionery Research and Development Centre in York, UK, and the Switzerland-based Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences.
The introduction of paper by Quality Street follows that of Smarties, which introduced recyclable paper packaging for all its candy items globally in 2021.
Kitkat wrappers can be recycled at more than 5,000 supermarkets in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland by placing them in domestic recycling.
The transition will start this month on the company’s signature two-finger items and will be completed by 2024 throughout the full product line.
In comparison to other big UK & Ireland chocolate brands, KitKat will utilize the highest percentage of recycled food-grade plastic because it is consumed by more than 6 in 10 households in the UK.
Richard Watson, Business Executive Officer, Nestlé Confectionery said: “These major packaging innovations have been pioneered by our teams here in the UK.”
He noted that the new KitKat packaging is enabled by a significant upgrade to Nestlé’s York Factory.
The business has made a commitment to employ only entirely recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025 as a signatory to the UK and European Plastics Pacts.
Nestlé is continuing its efforts to lessen its environmental effect and support a circular economy with the release of the new packaging.
The business has made a commitment to employ only entirely recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025 as a signatory to the UK and European Plastics Pacts.
The business will use at least 30% recycled material in any plastic throughout this time.
For well over a decade, Nestlé UK & Ireland has been working to increase the sustainability of its operations and supply chain for confectionery products.
Since the end of 2015, the company has used only chocolate and biscuits made with 100% certified sustainable cocoa.
By 2026, the company hopes to have reduced the carbon footprint of its local fresh milk supply in half.
This entails assisting farmers in implementing sustainable farming techniques that will safeguard and replenish nearby natural resources over time, such as soil, water, and biodiversity, while also delivering the highest-quality milk for Nestlé products.
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