Customer satisfaction and sustainability in snacking

“At the moment, the packaging we use is the best way to keep our crisps crunchy and delicious. However, we’re aiming to make all our packaging 100% recyclable, compostable or biodegradable by 2025.”

So reads the statement at the top of UK crisp producer Walkers’ recently-launched recycling page, but it’s indicative of the current dilemma many brands face. Their customers demand delicious snacking experiences – crisper, fresher, more flavour-packed – while pressure is mounting from various quarters to offer more sustainable packaging options.

Crisps and ‘crisp-style snacks’ are a staple of British culture, eaten on a regular basis by 90% of adults according to Mintel research, with 6 billion packets of crisps consumed every year. But this is far from just a UK trend. Snacking is consistently on the rise across Europe, particularly in Germany and Netherlands which both saw 2.3% annual increases in spending on ‘ambient food,’ according to data from consumer industries expert IRI in April 2018. Sales of crisps and salty snacks in particular increased by 3.7% across Europe in 2017.

Changing snacking habits mean that packaging formats must evolve to keep pace. Packaging that facilitates on-the-go snacking and sharing, keeps contents fresh after opening to reduce food waste and is more sustainable is increasing in demand. Indeed, over one-third of European consumers are already shunning products due to concerns about their packaging, according to research by Pro Carton that surveyed 7,000 consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

Brands step up recycling efforts

Most of the packaging structures used for snacks today are already recyclable and several European countries, including Germany and Austria, have systems in place to recycle them. But many others, including the UK, do not. Consumers are increasingly cognisant of what happens to the packaging of their snacks when they’re done with it, and brands and retailers are stepping up to take action.

In absence of official recycling systems, some brands are making moves to build and learn from new systems and infrastructures. For example, PepsiCo recently announced a partnership with TerraCycle on Walkers Crisps, enabling UK customers to recycle certain types of snack packaging in response to consumer demands. While another UK petition supported reduced demand for single-plastic cups and difficult-to-recycle materials and increased use of recycled plastic.

Other major brands are upping their commitment to become more sustainable. For example, the New Plastics Economy – led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with UN Environment – is leading a Global Commitment to address plastic waste and eliminate plastic pollution at its source. Signatories – including Apple, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Philips and L’Oreal – have committed to eliminate problematic and unneccesary plastic items, innovate to ensure plastics that are needed are reusable, recyclable or compostable, circulate all plastic items to keep them in the economy, and ensure all plastic packaging is free of hazardous chemicals.

In the UK retail space, Tesco recently commenced a trial ‘closed loop’ recycling partnership with Recycling Technologies, allowing shoppers to return all their plastic packaging to select Tesco stores. Under the trial, shopping bags, pet food pouches, crisp packets and other packaging materials are turned into Plaxx, a material that can then be used to manufacture new plastic.

Regulation is also evolving to reflect consumer expectations. For example, the EU’s Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy is working towards making all plastic packaging recyclable or reusable by 2030 and revising legislative requirements to increase recyclability and sustainability. Furthermore, brands, manufacturers and retailers should be aware of their obligations to use packaging that enables local governments to meet their recycling and recovery targets. The UK government has pledged to up overall packaging recovery from 80% in 2018 to 82% in 2020, with the recovery of plastics increasing from 53% to 57% over the same period.

All this means that the packaging of snacks and nuts will need to meet the expectations of governments, retailers, manufacturers and consumers demanding sustainability, freshness and easy-to-open, easy-to-close, easy-to-access and easy-to-share packages, which don’t require scissors.

It’s a tall order, but one that can be met. For example, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and CEFLEX are uniting European companies to standardise and equalise recycling across the continent. The collaboration is addressing the flexible packaging value chain to improve recycling performance within a viable circular economy.

Packaging that strikes the right balance

Advancements in material science, machinery and recycling are progressing rapidly. At Amcor, we are putting all our energy into designing innovative packaging solutions that meet the sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow.

Unique metal-free, packaging solutions like AmLite Standard Recyclable can provide medium to high-barrier OPP solutions that complement our recyclable metallised OPP pouch, and can be combined in addition to a bio-based polyethylene format.

As things change over time, consumers’ love of snacks will remain constant. This, coupled with a heightened consciousness of the importance of recycling and giving packaging a ‘second life,’ will see brands and retailers provide more environmentally-friendly packaging that addresses the needs of the planet, consumers and businesses.

You can find out more about Amlite Standard Recyclable here, or contact us to find the right packaging solution for your business.

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