In a move towards Cadbury’s ambitions to reduce its virgin plastic needs, the chocolatier has signed with Amcor to source post-consumer recycled plastic to wrap its core range.
The announcement comes after Cadbury’s parent company, Mondelēz International, announced its long-term vision to recycle plastic waste in Australia.
Cadbury is partnering with Amcor to invest in Licella to fund the construction of one of the country’s first advanced soft plastic recycling facilities.
Licella will use its Australian-developed Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) technology to recycle end-of-life plastic back into a crude oil substitute suitable to produce new food-grade plastic packaging.
The new facility in Melbourne, managed by Advanced Recycling Victoria (ARV), is scheduled for completion in 2025 and will initially process around 20,000 tons of end-of-life plastic per annum, with plans to scale up to 120,000 tons per annum.
CEO of Licella, Dr Len Humphreys, said this kind of leadership from industry is needed to help bring Australia closer to more sustainable plastic waste solutions that deliver economic and environmental benefits.
“The investment from Mondelēz International and Amcor ANZ has come at a crucial time in the progression of the ARV project and will help advance us to the next stage of viability, moving towards construction of this Australian first advanced recycling facility.”
“This is the leading technology of its kind globally, and this project will be a key lever for companies to deliver on the national sustainable packaging targets as demand for sustainable plastic solutions grows here and overseas,” Humphreys said.
Cadbury aims to use 50 per cent recycled plastic for its wrappers across its chocolate blocks, bars, and pieces range, produced in Australia. This will be equivalent to halving its virgin plastic needs to wrap those products.
The rollout of recycled material is marked for Q1 of 2024, starting with blocks and expanding into bar lines such as Cherry Ripe, Crunchie and Twirl, including pieces wraps for Roses and Favourites.
Mike Cash, president of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, said, “We partnered with Mondelēz when they made the first step to move to recycled content for their Cadbury Dairy Milk family blocks packaging, now we’re helping them elevate this ambition by sourcing 1,000 tons of recycled plastic to help reduce virgin material across more of the Cadbury chocolate portfolio.”
“Being able to source this significant volume of recycled material for Mondelēz gives them the opportunity to differentiate and grow and demonstrates the collective commitment of Mondelez’s leadership,” he added.
Darren O’Brien, president – Mondelēz International Australia, New Zealand and Japan, said reducing virgin plastic use and supporting a circular packaging economy is a focus for their business.
“This latest deal to purchase recycled plastic is another important step in our journey,” O’Brien said.
“By creating confidence in the market for recycled material, we’re helping to build a future for plastic recycling in this country.
“Chocolate lovers love Cadbury Dairy Milk for its generous ‘glass and a half’ slogan, but when it comes to virgin plastic in our packaging, less is more. By halving our virgin plastic needs in our Cadbury chocolate blocks, bars and pieces portfolio, we are on a path to better packaging.”
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