WALKERS is to move its crisp packets to materials that make them easier to recycle over the next 12 months.
The move by parent company PepsiCo will see ‘innovative’ design technology trialled in a bid to create simpler bag structures.
Recycled content derived from previously used plastic including biscuit wrappers, crisp packets and shopping bags will be used – with PepsiCo estimating that this could result in a 40% greenhouse gas emissions reduction per tonne of packaging material.
The new bag designs contain greater proportions of recyclable plastics like polypropylene, which PepsiCo said meet the recycling guidelines developed by the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging.
Archana Jagannathan, sustainability lead at PepsiCo UK & Ireland, said, “This announcement and our UK trial are exciting and important moments on our journey towards a truly circular economy for flexible plastics. We know change is needed to reduce the amount of virgin fossil-based plastic used in our packaging, which is why we’re working with partners across the value chain to develop effective, scalable solutions to address this.
“At the same time, we need to make it easier for people to recycle their flexible plastics so that we can put this plastic back into the system and to good use. The food industry and retailers have invested to make this possible, with over 3,500 flexible plastic collection points at supermarkets across the country, making it convenient for people to drop off their packaging waste for recycling whilst shopping.
“Now, we’re urging the government to speed up their plans to introduce kerbside recycling collections, so that we can begin recycling flexible plastics at scale.”
