Following similar pledges by fellow brand owners such as Nestlé and packaging suppliers such as Amcor, Mondelēz International has announced a new commitment to make all packaging recyclable and provide recycling information by 2025.
The company will work in partnerships so that packaging can be collected and recycled in markets around the world.
This new commitment is part of the company’s strategy for a circular packaging economy and will help deliver its long-term vision for zero-net waste packaging.
The announcement reflects the company’s new purpose to empower people to snack right by offering the right snack, at the right time, in the right way. This includes ensuring that the company’s products are made with ingredients that are sustainably sourced, produced and delivered, with positive impact along the supply chain.
“As the global snacking leader, we’re committing to using sustainably-sourced materials and recyclable packaging as part of our active contribution to reduce packaging waste and establish a circular economy for packaging,” said Rob Hargrove, Executive Vice President, Research, Development, Quality and Innovation. “Plastic waste and its impact on the planet is a broad, systemic issue that our consumers care deeply about, and which requires a holistic response. Together with partners from across the industry, as well as public and private entities, we can help to develop practical solutions that result in a positive environmental impact.”
Targeting Zero-net Waste Packaging The company’s strategy aims to deliver against its long-term vision for zero-net waste packaging by addressing two objectives: making it easier for consumers to recycle packaging and supporting industry coalitions to improve recycling rates. To achieve this, the company is committed to the following:
- All packaging will be made with recyclable material by 2025. The company will provide design guidelines for circular economy to packaging developers, set priorities and identify materials to use or avoid across its packaging range.
- All paper-based packaging will be sustainably sourced by 2020.
- 65 million kg of packaging material worldwide will be eliminated by 2020. This builds off the company’s success in removing 53.5 million kg of packaging material since 2013 and is consistent with its commitment to use the right amount of material to keep products fresh and safe while minimizing the amount of packaging used.
- Recycling information for consumers will be provided by 2025. The company will work to make it easy for consumers to recycle or re-use product packs after use given the vast array of local recycling systems around the world.
- The company will support industry coalitions and public-private partnerships to develop vital waste-management infrastructure to reduce waste and improve real-world recycling rates.
Continued Progress
By continuously improving packaging design, Mondelēz International has already made substantial progress to minimize the environmental impact of packaging. Most of the company’s packaging is already recycled, recyclable or recycle-ready. Around 75 percent of its packaging is comprised of glass, paper or metal and around 70 percent of paper-based packaging is from recycled sources. Hundreds of optimization programs have reduced packaging in recent years:
- In the U.K., Cadbury Heroes tubs were redesigned to use 17 percent less plastic resulting in 30 percent fewer trucks to transport them.
- In Asia, Middle East and Africa, improvements to secondary packs and shippers for chocolate products saved more than 1 million kg of corrugated paper.
- In the U.S., Oreo cookies packaging were made 23 percent thinner, which reduced the need for nearly 1.5 million kg of cartons annually.
