Kraft Heinz has revealed a new goal to cut virgin plastic in its packaging by 20% by the end of the decade amid a wider recyclable objective.
The US-headquartered producer of Heinz ketchup and Oscar Mayer hotdogs said the global packaging initiative is estimated to eliminate 100 million pounds of virgin plastic from its portfolio by 2030.
In the broader scheme of Kraft Heinz’s sustainability agenda, the Nasdaq-listed company seeks to make all of its packaging 100% “recyclable, reusable or compostable” by 2025, along with halving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions five years later on the ultimate road to net-zero in 2050.
“We can’t continue to do things as we have in the past,” Rashida La Lande, the executive vice president of Kraft Heinz’s general counsel and its chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.
“We are investing in innovative technologies and partnerships that are critical to helping us redesign packaging, eliminate unnecessary plastic, increase our use of recycled content, and influence the adoption of reuse models.”
A spokesperson for Kraft Heinz informed Just Food there is no conflict between the 2030 virgin plastic goal and its target for fully recyclable packaging by the earlier timeframe of 2025.
The Kraft Mac & Cheese brand owner said it is also “exploring” packaging alternatives, such as fibre-based materials.
For instance, the company entered a project last year with the UK sustainable packaging producer Pulpex to “develop a paper-based, renewable and recyclable bottle made from 100% sustainably sourced wood pulp” for Heinz ketchup. Kraft Heinz said it is testing a prototype.
Elsewhere, the company aims to replace 15% of rigid PET plastic in the US with recyclable materials by 2025. In the UK, Heinz has launched an “eco-friendly multi-pack paperboard sleeve” to replace plastic shrink-wrap, which it said eliminated more than one million pounds of plastic in 2022.
The company’s Kraft Real Mayo and Miracle Whip brands also plan to transition to 100% recycled “content” at the start of 2024 in an effort to cut 14 million pounds of virgin plastic. And Heinz is using 30% recycled content in Brazil, the US and Europe for its sauce bottles.
Meanwhile, the global packaged food industry has met with setbacks in efforts to reduce plastic use, putting targets at risk, as Just Food explored last year.
A report from The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and the United Nations Environment Programme revealed that some companies – including PepsiCo, Mars and The Coca-Cola Co. – were using more virgin plastic despite a pledge to reduce its use.
However, in May this year, confectionery giant Mars announced a trial in the UK for paper-based packaging for its Mars Bar in a limited-time project with Tesco.
PepsiCo also launched a trial in the UK for its Walkers crisps brand for paper-based and recyclable packaging.
