Heinz and Tesco have partnered to launch a pioneering trial this July that they hope will lead to important change across the wider food industry when it comes to tackling the UK’s soft plastic recycling challenge. Heinz has taken the soft plastic returned to Tesco stores by its customers and worked with the retailer and a team of specialists to create recyclable Heinz Beanz Snap Pots made with 39% recycled soft plastics.
With customer interest in recycling and avoiding plastics going to landfill heightened, this first of its kind pilot project is set to recycle 22 tonnes of plastic, while still offering shoppers the convenience of microwave cooking. The move to make soft plastics into food-grade, microwavable snappable pots that can then return to the kerbside recycling loop is a world first.
To date soft plastics, which are often used in packaging for bread, snacks and crisps, have historically been difficult to recycle. They play an important role in the preservation of food and reducing food waste but they are not currently collected for recycling by councils, and until 2020 just six per cent of UK soft plastics were being recycled.
Tesco started collecting soft plastic in all its large stores in 2021 to help plug this recycling gap in the UK. Once collected by Tesco, as much as possible is recycled into new products and packaging. From August, all materials will be sorted in the UK. The new Heinz Beanz Snap Pots were designed by Heinz to be more sustainable while retaining what makes them so popular with shoppers: their convenience, microwaveability and handy snappable format.
Heinz hopes the wider food industry, with Government support will get behind this important innovation in food packaging recycling, and that it will help spark major change when it comes to the UK’s current poor rate of recycling of soft plastics. Resources and Waste Minister Jo Churchill said: “It is great to see Heinz and Tesco working together to trial packaging to boost recycling levels. Businesses across the UK are stepping up to tackle plastic pollution and we want to incentivise them to do so. Through our landmark Environment Act, we are also making it easier for consumers to recycle more.”
Jojo de Noronha, President Northern Europe at Heinz, said: “We’re very excited about this pioneering trial using the latest recycling technologies to make our Heinz Beanz Snap Pots – it has huge potential to make a positive impact. The new packaging gives our consumers an easy way to reduce their impact on the environment without having to give up the convenience of their favourite Heinz Beanz in a microwavable pot. What’s more, knowing that this type of plastic can now be made into useful food-grade packaging like our Snap Pots could encourage more people to drop it off at their local collection point until more permanent recycling infrastructure for these materials is put in place, rather than adding them to landfill.”
Sarah Bradbury, Tesco’s Group Quality Director, said: “This innovative collaboration is one of the ways that soft plastic returned to stores by our customers will be recycled into new food-grade packaging. After doing everything we can to remove and reduce plastic, we want to develop circular recycling solutions like this so the materials we use stay in our packaging and out of the environment”.
This is the latest in a series of sustainable packaging innovations by Heinz, including the kerbside recyclable Heinz for Baby food pouch and the Heinz Eco-Friendly Sleeve on canned products, as the company continues its journey in supporting a circular economy. This packaging innovation supports Heinz’s global pledge to aim to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
New Heinz Beanz Snap Pots, available from Tesco in the UK and Ireland from mid-July 2022, RRP: £3. For further information on new Heinz Beanz Snap Pots please visit: www.heinz.co.uk/snappotswithrecycledplastic
