Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced it will be trialling paper packaging for chocolate bars, transitioning its Vanilla Fudge Bar to paper packaging designed to be more easily recycled at kerbside and on the go.
Apparently, the move is anticipated to remove 1.4 million units of plastic from M&S’ Foodhall over the next 12 months. If successful, the retailer plans to roll this packaging out more widely to additional bars in the range, expected to remove a further 5 million units of plastic.
M&S says it introduced cardboard packaging for its Perfectly Ripe Twin Avocado packs and Ripe Avocado lines earlier this month, removing an estimated 7 million units of plastic. The retailer adds that it also introduced new pots for porridge lines in its Food On The Move range last month, said to be more easily recyclable as the cardboard wrap will separate from the plastic pot during the recycling process without the customer needing to remove it.
M&S states that it met its target to remove 75 million units of plastic in 2024/25 at the end of last year, ahead of plan. The brand has also committed to remove one billion units by the end of FY27/28 as part of its Plan A roadmap to net zero by 2040, and is reportedly halfway to this target with 500m units removed by the end of March 2025.
In 2024, M&S revealed that its early-season Jersey Royal potatoes were being packaged in 100% recyclable paper, a move hoped to remove an estimated one million pieces of plastic from the product line in the first year. The retailer explained that the new packaging sought to keep the product undamaged and fresh while unlocking end-of-life recyclability.
Last summer M&S claimed it was the first UK retailer to move to paper packaging for its garlic baguettes, a move predicted to eliminate 5.5 million units of plastic from its supply chain. All of its single and twin garlic baguettes became available in FSC-approved paper packaging, apparently easily recyclable at home.
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