Mars continues multi-million investment into recyclable packaging

Mars has continued investments totalling hundreds of millions of dollars into designing more environmentally friendly packaging, including a collaboration with Berry Global to deliver club jars created from 15% recycled material for M&M’s, Starburst and Skittles ranges, writes Neill Barston.

The move, which is anticipated to save around 400 tonnes of virgin plastic a year, follows a similar initiative announced recently for the company’s Kind snack bar series.

As the business noted, the easy-grip square jars are produced at Berry’s manufacturing facility, using a single-pellet, food-grade resin to assure a clean, consistent packaging material sourced from mechanical recycling. In addition to including recycled materials, the jar itself is also widely recyclable.

They are being made available in three sizes, with the two larger variants being 10 grams lighter each, saving 374 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. Those CO2 savings are equivalent to: 42,084 gallons of petrol consumed, 45,494,350 smartphones charged 72.8 homes’ electricity use for one year.

The company added that it will continue with its major focus on sustainability in terms of improving its packaging designs further across the business.

“We’ve set an aggressive, science-based strategy to innovate our packaging,” says Justin Comes, Vice President of R&D, Mars Wrigley North America. “This move to 15% PCR for these large-format jars is a significant step towards a more sustainable future.”

As the business explained in relation to its packaging move with its Kind series of bars, the transition to packaging designed for maximum circularity, as it sets its sights on reducing the use of new virgin plastic by 25%, incorporating 30% recycled content into plastic packaging, and redesigning more than 12,000 packaging components across its portfolio.

Another waste initiative on the horizon for the business is its recent venture with digital waste and recycling business Rubicon Technologies to create a series of recyclable trick or treat bags in the US.