Working with a team of recycling specialists, Heinz has taken the soft plastic returned to Tesco stores by customers and created recyclable Heinz Beanz Snap Pots made with 39% recycled soft plastics. This first of its kind pilot project is set to save 22 tonnes of plastic from landfill while still offering shoppers the convenience of microwave cooking.
The move to make soft plastics into food-grade, microwavable snappable pots that can then return to the kerbside recycling loop is a world first. The recycled plastic used in the snappable pots is certified by the ISCC, a global sustainability certification system that supports the transition to a circular economy with a focus on plastics.
Jojo de Noronha, President- Northern Europe, Heinz said, “We’re very excited about this pioneering trial using the latest recycling technologies to make our Heinz Beanz Snap Pots – it has huge potential to make a positive impact. The new packaging gives our consumers an easy way to reduce their impact on the environment without having to give up the convenience of their favourite Heinz Beanz in a microwavable pot.”
“What’s more, knowing that this type of plastic can now be made into useful food-grade packaging like our Snap Pots could encourage more people to drop it off at their local collection point or ask their local council to provide more solutions rather than adding them to landfill,” added Noronha.
Commenting on the partnership, James Bull, Head of Packaging at Tesco said, “This innovative collaboration is one of the ways that soft plastic returned to stores by our customers will be recycled into new food-grade packaging. After doing everything we can to remove and reduce plastic, we want to develop circular recycling solutions like this so the materials we use stay in our packaging and out of the environment.”
The trial is set to begin in July, and the companies hope to help plug the recycling gap in the UK by removing and reducing plastic. The latest trial supports Heinz’s global pledge to aim to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.