Cadbury Dairy Milk to be wrapped in certified recycled plastic

The company has started to roll out the packaging innovation on more than 28 million sharing bars, which are made at the company’s historic Bournville site and sold in the UK and Ireland.

Using the mass balance approach the post-consumer, recycled plastic packaging will be independently certified by ISCC and supplied in partnership with Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging for food and other industries and signals the high demand for this material within the UK.

The company said it is part of its wider global goal to reduce the use of virgin plastic material in its overall plastic packaging portfolio by 5% by 2025, ‘assuming constant portfolio mix’.

Mondelēz said this latest project on Cadbury Dairy Milk is another example of how it is delivering the company’s‘ Pack Light and Right’ sustainable packaging strategy and its efforts toward the UK Plastic Pact targets.

Dirk Van de Put, CEO Mondelēz International, said the UK is leading the way in its use of recycled material and investing in solutions for a circular economy for packaging waste. “Until recently, flexible plastic packaging has been considered a single use material. The development of advanced recycling technology and our significant investment in this material means it’s now possible for Cadbury fans to enjoy their favourite sharing bars more sustainably here in the UK​.”

Earlier this year, Mondelēz International again joined forces with the industry to lead, finance, and launch the UK’s biggest flexible plastic household collection and recycling pilot – Flex Collect. The pilot will inform UK Government how to incorporate flexible packaging into existing collection services across different geographies and demographics, developing best practice and giving confidence to the recycling and packaging supply chain to invest in advanced recycling facilities that can process this material.

Van de Put said the company is committed to using more recycled packaging, as access and availability of advanced recycling technology increases.

“I am enormously proud to witness this important innovation to our iconic Cadbury packaging, made in Bournville – the heart and home of Cadbury” ​said Louise Stigant, UK Managing Director, Mondelēz International.“We are very keen to reduce our use of virgin plastic across our full range and this innovation signals our demand for this material and much needed investment into the UK recycling infrastructure to produce it​.”