PepsiCo UK has just announced a massive investment in new sustainable food packaging innovations that will be responsible for removing upwards of 250 tons of virgin plastic from its supply chain annually.
The outer plastic packaging on millions of Walkers 22 and 24-bag multipacks will soon be replaced with a brand-new cardboard design that reduces the amount of virgin plastic that the company uses.
"We are constantly exploring new scalable solutions, and this investment marks an important step forward, delivering a huge reduction in virgin plastic across some of our best-selling ranges while also helping to tackle our carbon footprint. Reducing virgin plastic across our supply chain is a key part of our commitment to creating a world where packaging never becomes waste," says Simon Devaney, Sustainable Packaging Director, PepsiCo UK & Ireland.
After a fairly successful trial with Tesco, the improved multipack outer packaging will soon be on shelves in all major supermarkets in the UK within the next few weeks.
In addition to the new packaging design, PepsiCo also invested in a new stretch film that will wrap around its pallets before these are distributed to retailers.
The new film is produced using nanotechnology, which puts tiny air bubbles into the film in order to reduce the amount of plastic used while retaining the same strength and stretch needed to protect the crisps as they travel to stores across the country.
