Mondelez has announced that Cadbury Dairy Milk and Cadbury Mini Snowballs 110g sharing bars are now wrapped in flexible packaging made with 30% recycled plastic.
The new packaging, which has started rolling out on more than 28 million sharing bars, will be independently certified by environmental organisation International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.
Mondelez heralded the move – part of its ‘Pack Light and Right’ sustainable packaging strategy – as “a world first”. It forms part of the company’s wider global goal to reduce the use of virgin plastic material in its overall plastic packaging portfolio by 5% by 2025.
The company is already using 75% recycled plastic (rPET) content in its Dairylea Lunchables packaging in the UK and will also begin using certified plastic with recycled material in its Philadelphia tubs and lids from next year.
Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put said that the UK is leading the way in its use of recycled material and investing in solutions for a circular economy for packaging waste.
He added: “Until recently, flexible plastic packaging has been considered a single use material. The development of advanced recycling technology and our significant investment in this material means it’s now possible for Cadbury fans to enjoy their favourite sharing bars more sustainably here in the UK.”
Earlier this year Mondelez joined forces with industry to lead, finance and launch Flex Collect, the UK’s biggest flexible plastic household collection and recycling pilot. This will inform the UK government on how to incorporate flexible packaging into existing collection services, develop best practice, and encourage the recycling and packaging supply chain to invest in advanced recycling facilities that can process this material.
