Nestlé has announced that Quality Street sweets will now be wrapped in recyclable paper instead of plastic, marking the first change to the brand's packaging in 86 years. The move is expected to keep 2 billion wrappers a year out of landfill.
Nine of the 11 sweets in the range will adopt paper-based packaging with a vegetable-based coating to maintain freshness. However, the orange crunch and green triangle will remain in foil wrappers, as they have traditionally lacked a plastic layer.
The transition will take several months, meaning this Christmas shoppers will find a mix of old and new wrappers in tubs and tins. Nestlé previously tried compostable cellulose in 2008, but found most wrappers were still discarded.
In addition, Nestlé is switching KitKat wrappers to 80% recycled plastic, recyclable at UK supermarkets or in household recycling in Ireland. The company aims to eliminate 3 billion pieces of packaging annually from its supply chain.
Helen Bird of Wrap, the government-backed recycling body, welcomed the initiatives, noting that plastic wrappers are not yet collected by local authorities but that supermarkets offer 5,000 collection points. She called for further rollout of such measures.
