Mars Australia recognised for its major sustainable packaging drive
pic: Mars
Mars Australia has emerged with industry honours for its developments in sustainable packaging, after claiming the prize for Outstanding Achievement for Recycled Content as part of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation’s annual awards in Sydney, writes Neill Barston.
As recently reported by Confectionery Production magazine, the company confirmed last month it is switching all its chocolate ranges to more environmentally-friendly paper-based wrapper options, including its Mars bars, Snickers and Milky Way from April 2023.
This is anticipated to eliminate more than 360 tonnes of plastic from its value chain, and part of wider environmental moves by the company over the next three years that have targeted greater recycling capabilities of its product ranges.
The national awards recognise progress in packaging design and innovation and celebrate businesses that have gone ‘above and beyond’ to implement sustainability practices within their industry.
Bill Heague, General Manager Mars Food Australia, and Mark Harry, R&D Packaging, Product and Raws Development Manager, collected the award on behalf of the wider Mars Australia business.
“We are honoured to be recognised for the progress Mars Australia has made across all segments of the business to incorporate more recycled content into its packaging,” enthused Heague, who added that the award was great recognition of the company’s progress, but the team knows there is still more work to be done.
“We have moved from 71 percent of our portfolio incorporating recycled content in 2020, to 80 percent in 2021, which is a fantastic achievement. However, we know that we need to continue progressing our sustainable packaging agenda. We will only do this through working closely with suppliers, government, and industry organizations like APCO, to achieve a fully circular system where packaging never becomes waste,” he said.
“The awards ceremony was a great reminder of the innovation and passion for sustainable packaging throughout our industry, and it was inspiring to see the progress we are all making towards the world we want tomorrow.”
