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Candy Bar Wrappers Go Plastic Free

Candy Bar Wrappers Go Plastic Free

For the first time since its launch in 1936, Nestlé is changing the packaging of their famous Mars candy bar wrapper for a more environmentally friendly alternative.

Traditionally, candy bar wrappers are made out of a combination of aluminum and plastic. These materials are difficult to recycle because of how hard it is to separate the two materials. Moreover, the plastic is not biodegradable and can take 10-20 years to decompose. This is at the risk of pieces remaining in the environment longer than that. At the end of their short life, candy bar wrappers will inevitably end up either in landfills or the environment.

New Jersey based TerraCycle has implemented a candy bar wrapper recycling program to address this problem, collecting used wrappers from individuals and institutions.

Candy bar wrappers are recycled at TerraCycle through a process called mechanical recycling. This process involves shredding the wrappers into small pieces, washing them to remove any contaminants, and then melting them down to create new plastic pellets. These pellets can then be used to make new products, such as benches, flower pots, or playground equipment.

TerraCycle offers a variety of recycling programs for candy bar wrappers. These programs are available to individuals, schools, businesses, and organizations. To participate in a program, the only cost is to purchase a collection kit from TerraCycle. The collection kit includes a shipping label and a prepaid shipping box.

Once you have purchased a collection kit, you can collect candy bar wrappers. You can collect wrappers from your own home, school, or workplace. When the collection kit is full, you can ship it back to TerraCycle for recycling.

Nestlé Steps Up

Nestlé is taking the problem of candy bar wrapper waste one step further by completely changing what their chocolates are packaged in. The company is piloting a program to wrap its Mars bars in recyclable paper.

The company also announced that it would be switching the plastic packaging on KitKat bars to 80% recycled plastic, allowing them to be recycled at supermarkets across the UK or put in household recycling bins in Ireland. This is an initiative that could save 1900 tonnes of CO2 annually.

In addition, the company is looking to explore new types of packaging. Nestle is investing hundreds of millions of pounds to redesign thousands of types of packaging. This investment will be put towards meeting its goal of reducing the use of virgin plastics by one-third by 2025. The company also plans for over 95% of its plastic packaging to be designed for recycling by 2025.

Nestlé’s Institute of Packaging Science has been working since 2019 to develop the next generation of packaging materials. In addition to recyclable packaging materials, they are looking at developing refillable or reusable packaging and how to incorporate compostable and biodegradable materials. The Institute’s strategy focuses on five pillars, all of which are linked to reducing waste:

  1. Reducing the use of plastic packaging material
  2. Scaling reusable and refillable systems
  3. Designing better packaging materials
  4. Supporting infrastructure to help make recycling easier
  5. Shaping new behaviours

Nestlé is a global food and beverage company that has been criticized for its water bottling operations. Critics argue that Nestle is extracting too much water from local communities, often with no meaningful compensation to local jurisdictions and areas already facing water shortages. Some have argued that the company doesn’t sell water; the company sells single-use bottles. Bottles that contribute to pollution and environmental damage.

The need for bottled water, is of course, a marketing ploy. Critics argue that Nestle’s marketing campaigns make bottled water seem like a healthier and more convenient alternative to tap water, even though there is no scientific evidence to support this claim.

The plastic-free Mars bars will be available at 500 Tesco stores in the UK for a limited time.

 

 


 

 

Source  Happy Eco News

Milk & More to trial doorstep deliveries of refilled Coca-Cola

Milk & More to trial doorstep deliveries of refilled Coca-Cola

From next Monday (5 June), Milk & More customers in South London and some parts of the South will be able to buy one-litre bottles of Coke Zero which they will then be instructed to rinse and leave on their doorstep for collection.

The collected bottles will be sent off for washing and refilling; they can be refilled up to 20 times before they need to be recycled.

Milk & More already offers reusable glass bottles for several of its own-brand lines including milk, water, fruit juices and soft drinks. In total, it delivers 80 million refillable bottles each year already.

Milk & More’s chief executive Patrick Muller said: “Our customers want to be more sustainable, but they are busy people and need simple solutions to help them, so we are confident that they will welcome this trial as it offers them exactly the same service as they already have with Milk & More.”

The business is working with Europe’s largest Coca-Cola bottler, CCEP, on the new trial. It will run for a minimum of eight weeks and the hope is to reach 100,000 customers.

CCEP’s senior sustainability manager Jo Padwick said the trials will allow for the gathering of “valuable insights into how consumers respond to return-based trials in comparison to recycling”.

The Coca-Cola Company, globally, is notably aiming for 25% of its beverage sales to be housed in reusable or returnable packaging by 2030. It announced this target last year.

The Milk & More trials are being touted as the only way, at present, for UK-based customers to receive refillable Coca-Cola to their homes.

Pre-filled reusable Coca-Cola Company products have previously been offered via Tesco and Terracycle, under the Loop scheme. However, Tesco stopped offering Loop services last July.

 

 


 

 

Source  edie

L’Oreal launches make-up recycling across UK shops

L’Oreal launches make-up recycling across UK shops

Its Maybelline brand and recycling firm TerraCycle will install the recycling points in branches of Tesco, Boots, Sainsbury’s and Superdrug.

L’Oreal’s UK boss said the firm wants to “lead the way” in creating beauty recycling habits.

But Greenpeace said without reducing single-use plastic production, firms “cannot claim they are doing enough”.

From Thursday, consumers can drop off empty make-up products from any brand at the recycling bins in participating Tesco and Superdrug stores, which can be found online.

Boots and Sainsbury’s will follow at the end of September.

Compacts, eyeshadow palettes, foundation or concealer tubes, mascara, eyeliner and lip products will be accepted, although make-up brushes, nail polish and aerosols will not.

The used items will be collected from the shops, sorted, cleaned and recycled into plastic pellets, which can be used to make other products, such as outdoor furniture.

Chains such as The Body Shop and skincare specialist Kiehl’s – also owned by L’Oreal – already offer customers rewards for returning empty products to stores to be recycled.

Vismay Sharma, country manager of L’Oreal UK and Ireland, told the BBC that the firm had the “ability to make impact at real scale”.

Nearly half of make-up wearers did not know that recycling beauty products was possible, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 consumers by Maybelline.

Asked what differentiates Maybelline and TerraCycle’s new “Make-up Not Make Waste” scheme from other similar ones, Stephen Clarke, head of communications at TerraCycle, said that the number of stores participating meant it would be easier for consumers to recycle their beauty buys.

He also said the firm can recycle mixed materials, such as compacts with mirrors, as well as beauty items with pumps and triggers, which local councils won’t necessarily do.

 

‘Damaging our planet’

However, environmental campaign group Greenpeace said that “recycling will only ever get us so far”.

Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace UK, said: “Given the almost daily torrent of research revealing the extent to which plastic pollution is damaging our planet, it’s frustrating to see a major plastic producer like the make-up industry fail to commit to reduce its overall plastic footprint.

“Without action plans to move towards reusable packaging and reduce single-use plastic production, companies cannot claim they are doing enough.”

More than 120 billion units of packaging are produced globally every year by the cosmetics industry alone, according to the Zero Waste Week campaign.

L’Oreal told the BBC that its global consumption of plastic totalled 137,000 tonnes in 2019.

The cosmetics firm has pledged that 100% of its plastic packaging will be refillable, reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Mr Sharma also said that the firm was dedicating €50m (£45.4m) to investing in recycling or plastic waste-related projects.

 


 

Source: BBC