Heinz Ketchup Designs 100% Recyclable Cap To Save 300 Million Lids

In a significant move towards sustainability, the Kraft Heinz Company, in partnership with Berry Global, has launched a fully recyclable cap for its renowned squeezy ketchup bottles.

Historically, the brand’s sauce bottles featured a flexible silicone valve, a design that offered consistency in sauce dispensation but posed challenges in recycling. In an effort to tackle this issue, the duo collaborated to develop a new mono-material cap made from polypropylene (PP), known for its recyclability.

The journey to create this sustainable cap was extensive, spanning eight years, 45 prototypes, and over 185,000 hours of development.

Now, in addition to being recyclable, the final design has been rigorously tested to meet the condiment company’s high-quality standards.

Consumer surveys were conducted to assess public reception, confirming that the new cap dispensed the perfect amount of sauce while maintaining bottle squeezability.

Furthermore, the design was found to be effective in extracting more sauce from nearly empty bottles, so users get to savor every last drop.

The new recyclable caps are currently being rolled out on 400ml and larger top-down bottles of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, including the 50% Less Sugar and Salt varieties, across the UK.

Heinz estimates that the change will prevent approximately 300 million plastic lids from ending up in landfills annually on a global scale.

[via Food Bev Media and Waste 360, cover image via Berry Global]