Friday 17 September 2021

Heinz unveils paperboard sleeve for multipack canned products

Heinz has announced it is replacing shrink-wrapped multipacks of its beans, soups and pasta varieties with paperboard sleeves in the UK.

It has partnered with Westrock for the eco-friendly paperboard sleeve, which is recyclable and comes from sustainably-managed forests and is claimed to have a nearly 20% lower carbon footprint compared with an equivalent design.

The wrap design uses no glue and 50% less material than a fully-enclosed wraparound box and 10% less than a traditional paperboard sleeve design.

The initiative is part of Heinz's £25 million investment in sustainable packaging solutions, with the latest rollout across all UK supermarkets helping remove 550 tonnes of plastic.

It also supports the company's ambition to ensure 100% of its packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Jojo de Noronha, Kraft Heinz Northern Europe President said: “It is clear that convenience is important to shoppers – research has found that 59% of UK shoppers say that if a package is easy to carry or transport, it is impactful to their overall satisfaction with the product. And sustainable packaging has a significant impact too, with 71% of UK shoppers agreeing that they are more satisfied with a product if it is easily recycled or composted. Grounded in shopper insight, we feel this new recyclable and easy-to-carry paperboard sleeve ticks both of those boxes and is the perfect eco-friendly solution for our multipacks.

“Our packaging innovation team continues to work hard to develop further sustainable solutions across our business as we make a £25 million investment over three years to implement the infrastructure needed to ensure this rollout is a success, which will be a win for the environment as well as shoppers across the UK.”