Nestlé wants to go greener with its KitKat chocolate bars that will soon be packaged in 30 percent recycled plastic.
The announcement comes ahead of World Environment Day on Sunday, with the company cutting its use of virgin plastic by approximately 250,000 square feet.
That’s enough to cover the water surface of more than 200 Olympic swimming pools.
More than 40 million 45g KitKat bars will be wrapped in greener packaging in the new year.
The newly packaged four-finger chocolate bars will be available nationwide starting this month.
Camera IconNestlé Kit Kat 45g bars are packaged in 30 percent recycled plastic. Delivered Credit: Delivered
Margaret Stuart, Nestlé Oceania’s director of corporate affairs and sustainability, said the company’s goal is to reduce virgin plastic by a third by 2025 and that all packaging is recyclable or reusable.
“We hope this packaging will do more than reduce the use of virgin plastic. We hope it’s a reminder of the circular potential of soft plastics and the importance of recycling your packaging,” she said.
“We’re not there yet, but we’d like to see a future where Australia’s soft plastic waste can be turned back into soft plastic food packaging.”
Camera Icon The newly packaged four-finger chocolate bars will be available nationwide from June 2022. Delivered credit: Delivered
She told NCA NewsWire that it was important for big companies like Nestlé to source and bought recycled plastics because it would encourage more companies to invest in making the product.
Ms. Stuart said that soft plastics are not widely available worldwide, and the technology for reusing them is still very new.
“We had to search high and low to find what we need to do this, but it sent a message that it’s important to collect and recycle soft plastics… because we know consumers want products that sustainably products recycled content is possible, but we can’t get it now… We will continue to use more recycled plastic in our product range.”
She said the company was constantly looking at its entire packaging range to see how it could improve its suitability.
Margaret Stuart of Camera IconNestlé said the company’s goal was to reduce the use of virgin plastic by a third by 2025.
Nestlé General Manager of Snacks and Confectionery Chris O’Donnell said the changes to the packaging would not affect the product, which would remain crisp and fresh as always.
“While most people are familiar with bottles made from recycled plastic, soft plastic made with recycled content is a newer breakthrough,” he said.
“We searched high and low to find as much of this material as possible from our suppliers.
“Our commitment to packaging improvements is just one of our sustainability focuses and builds on our support for cocoa farming communities and our commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2025.”
KitKat enthusiasts are reminded that they can recycle their wrappers through REDcycle supermarkets.
For more information, visit the website.
