Mars Wrigley China Creates Packaging Lid Made Entirely Out Of Recycled Plastic

For the past four years, Mars Wrigley China has been working on reimagining the packaging from its brands, hoping to create a reusable, recyclable, or compostable container that can contribute to a circular model where a product’s outer shell never becomes waste.

The company recently revealed it has successfully launched its first packaging lid made entirely out of recycled post-consumer plastic (rPET), which debuted in the Chinese market as part of a local chocolate brand, Cui Xiang Mi (CXM).

According to data from the Plastic Recycling Branch of the China Synthetic Resin Association, while 5.68 million tons of scrap PET were recycled in the country in 2020, most of the material was withered down to be used as fibers in textiles or ended up in landfills and incinerators.

Now, the organization has finally succeeded in achieving a breakthrough for rPET by showing that its canister lid of CXM could be manufactured entirely out of recycled material without any significant changes to the consumer experience.

Mars Wrigley China expects to save 36 tons of virgin plastic annually just from changing the packaging on CXM—imagine how much larger the impact would be if all of its brands across the world could adopt the same practice.

Going forward, as per the firm, the same kind of rPET lid will be rolled out to more of its subsidiaries throughout the year, such as other famed chocolate brands including Snickers and M&M’s. It expects this will help it save a total of 300 tons of virgin plastics in the rolling year.

[via Packaging Gateway and Mars Wrigley China / PR Newswire, images via Mars Wrigley China / PR Newswire]