Nestlé’s duty free Smarties Music Creator becomes 100% recyclable

The swiss-based confectionery giant said its travel retail exclusive Smarties Music Creator is the first product to meet the new guidelines, with all single use plastic packaging replaced by a recyclable carton box.

Nestlé expanded its recyclable paper wrapper tech to include Smarties blocks earlier this month​, announcing its ambition to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Aligned with NITR’s Learn Through Play framework, the Smarties Music Creator first appeared in 2019. Proving extremely popular, Nestlé ITR said it decided to accelerate the removal of single use plastics for the product and, over the course of seven months, worked with internal and external members to get the improved product ready for release much sooner than its intended goal.

The colourful, durable flute within (intended for use multiple times) is plastic and, to increase its lifespan, is now supported by online, digital content (via the nestletravelretail.com website), as well as the included learn-to-play guide and music sheet. 

Together, these help children learn how to read and play music and provide step-by-step guides to playing simple songs. 

Nestlé ITR general manager Stewart Dryburgh said: “Clearly these are unprecedented times and the Covid 19 crisis will impact the immediate roll-out for the new Smarties Music Creator. In the mid-long term, however, the demand for recyclable and eco-friendly solutions will only increase and with Smarties we will be ready with these solutions​.”