Mondelez & Amcor: Cadbury Wrapped With 80% recycled plastic

Packaging remains a major sustainability challenge for food and drink manufacturers. 

This is especially prominent for those producing snack and confectionary goods, where packaging must be portable, durable and lightweight.

As people eat on the go, they often litter wrappers and containers, polluting public spaces and worsening sustainability challenges. 

Working to tackle this issue is food manufacturing giant Mondelēz International, who today announced that the core sharing bars of it's Cadbury brand will be wrapped in 80% certified recycled plastic packaging. 

This is the highest percentage of recycled flexible plastic ever to be used within the global Cadbury brand. 

The project will cover approximately 300 million sharing bars across the UK&I Cadbury core tablet portfolio and will operate in phases starting in 2025. 

Consumers will be able to learn more about Cadbury's sustainable packaging journey using a new platform via an on pack QR code. They'll also be able to access a consumer-friendly explanation of the mass balance approach, and use the Recycle Now® locator from WRAP to check local collection and recycling points for a wide range of packaging materials.

This project has been made possible through collaboration with sustainable packaging leader Amcor, and Jindal Films, an industry leader in the manufacturing of recyclable films for flexible packaging.

Amcor is a recognised innovator in the field of sustainable packaging, having recently introduced a new recyclable 2L pouch for the home care industry. 

“Mondelēz International’s implementation of the AmFiniti™ solution is a major step towards further advancing recycled plastic packaging across the global confectionary market. Amcor continues to work alongside our partners - such as Mondelēz - to enable brands to meet rising consumer demand for more responsible packaging, advance sustainability goals, and comply with upcoming EU regulations” says Kyra Chavalés,Global Key Account Manager at Amcor.

Amcor’s AmFiniti™ solution converts post-consumer plastic waste into new products, providing Mondelēz International with a packaging solution that is made using 80% certified recycled plastic.

This innovative process uses advanced recycling Material (ARM) that is suitable for food-grade applications.

Through advanced recycling technology, adopting a mass balance approach and meeting the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) PLUS certification, Mondelēz International is driving the future of sustainable packaging innovation.

Overcoming the challenge of plastic recycling

What this project critically does is address the challenge of plastic recycling. 

This something we at Manufacturing Digital have explored extensively, including in this magazine feature on BASF's innovative ChemCycling® approach to plastic recycling. 

The difficulty of recycling plastic is down to a myriad of factors.

Firstly there are a myriad different types of plastic, which all melt at different temperatures making them difficult to recycle together. They are often designed in multiple layers, making them hard to separate. 

Recycling plastic is extremely energy intensive, reusing the material can increase its toxicity and the market is currently highly fragmented. 

Companies seeking to sell recycled plastic often struggle to find buyers, with the lack of demand driven by a slowdown in construction and rising transport costs.

However, the manufacturing sector must address the problem of plastic.

It's contribution to the climate crisis is catastrophic, and efforts must be made to move beyond it and make it more sustainable. 

Helen Bird, Head of Material System Transformation at WRAP echoes this sentiment.

"The biggest recycling challenge is plastic wrapping - collecting it at scale, sorting and recycling it into new things - ideally packaging," she says. 

"Recycling this type of plastic back into food packaging can only be achieved through advanced recycling technologies.

"WRAP is delighted to hear that UK Plastics Pact member Mondelēz is rolling out the use of certified recycled plastic in its Cadbury sharing bars. This is the future and must be scaled far and wide across other companies and products ranges."

Cadbury: A history of manufacturing innovation

Cadbury is the second-largest confectionary brand in the world after Mars, operating in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Founded in Birmingham, England in 1824, the brand has a history of introducing new forms of manufacturing innovation to the food and confectionary landscape. 

Examples of this include Cadbury's improvement of existing cocoa formulas by exporting products from a new cocoa press developed in the Netherlands that removed unpalatable cocoa butter from the cocoa bean.

Cadbury also pioneered 'Fancy Boxes', decorated boxes of chocolates sold for the first time  in 1868 for Valentine's day.

The company also manufactured the first modern chocolate Easter egg after manufacturing a pure cocoa butter with a texture that allowed it to be moulded into smooth shapes.

Acquired by Mondelēz in 2010, the manufacturer has not only been experimenting with its products- but driving manufacturing innovation with packaging too.

“This is the latest move in our journey to increase our use of post-consumer recycled plastic across our Cadbury tablets portfolio in the UK&I” says Louise Stigant, SVP and UK&I Managing Director, Mondelēz International.

“We remain focused on our long-term aim to offer more sustainable packaging, in particular flexible plastic packaging using advanced recycling technologies. For us this is based around a three-part approach aimed at reducing our packaging, evolving, and designing our packaging to be recyclable and improving systems by supporting the development of UK infrastructure and capabilities to collect, sort and recycle it back into food contact packaging.”

Robbie Staniforth, Director of Innovation and Policy at Ecosurety emphasizes how this accomplishment will drive sustainable change across the industry.

“We’re pleased to see Mondelēz taking this step towards increasing their use of recycled flexible plastic packaging and help lead the way to drive change right across the industry," he says. 

"The public wants to see full circularity for flexible plastic packaging and with this high-profile innovation, Mondelēz demonstrates what can be achieved when a company puts its mind to it. We look forward to more brands following their lead.”

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