Kellogg has joined Tesco and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) for the roll-out of collection points in 11 of the retailer’s outlets in England and Wales to test how prepared customers are to return the packaging to stores for recycling.
Last month, the breakfast cereal and snacks giant announced it was testing a ‘widely recyclable’ recycled paper packaging solution for Pringles in three of Tesco’s outlets in East Anglia, following a similar trial of a recyclable steel can in Italy at the end of last year.
A Kellogg’s UK spokesperson told BakeryandSnacks, “We’re still in the testing phase in our journey of designing the Pringles can of the future.
“As a global brand, we will be assessing the results of our packaging trials in [both] Italy and the UK soon to understand which formats could work best.”
The move is part of the breakfast cereal and snacks giant’s companywide commitment to transform to 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
“We know people want to be able to recycle their Pringles tubes,” said Chris Silcock, MD, Kellogg UK.
“This trial will allow our shoppers to return them to be recycled into something new and is an important step to help us assess the success of in-store collection for Pringles.”
The 4 Rs
The new trial also builds on Tesco’s 4R plan to Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle packaging.
Tesco’s head of packaging James Bull said, “We are overhauling our packaging by removing unnecessary and non-recyclable packaging from our business and will make sure everything we use can be recycled continuously.
“Inconsistency in the UK’s recycling infrastructure remains a problem and it is vital that the Government quickly implements its plans for collection across councils. In the meantime, we will test new in-store recycling facilities for packaging such as cartons to see if we can improve recycling rates.”
ACE UK – which represents the UK’s leading beverage carton manufacturers, Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc – has run the industry’s recycling programme for more than a dozen years.
The trial will see Pringles tubes being processed alongside beverage cartons at its specialist recycling facility in Stainland, West Yorkshire.
Tesco stores taking part in the trial include Bidston Moss, Merseyside; Burnage and Salford in Manchester; Carnforth Morecambe, Lancashire; Handforth, Helsby, Warrington and Widnes in Cheshire; Millom, Cumbria; Bar Hill, Cambridge; and Mold, Flintshire in Wales.
“Whilst our primary focus will remain on increasing kerbside collection for beverage cartons, we know that the easier it is for consumers to recycle, the higher the recycling rate,” said Mandy Kelly, recycling manager for ACE UK.
Cartons are commonly used to pack products ranging from fruit juice to soups and custards, however, only 68% of councils collect the packaging at kerbside.
“This trial represents an ideal opportunity to increase easy access to carton recycling while we continue to work hard to get cartons collected at kerbside everywhere in the UK,” added Kelly.
