Nestle Launch Snack Bar Wrapper Made from Sustainable Paper

Nestle Launch Snack Bar Wrapper Made from Sustainable Paper

Nestle has launched a new recyclable paper snack bar wrapper that’s thought to be the first of its kind. The firm’s YES! snack bar range will be its first product to appear in the new packaging that’s made from sustainable coated paper. The material is widely recyclable, it contains around 60% recyclable fibres, and will degrade within six months if it ends up in a marine environment. This is very fast compared to the current flow wrap packaging which takes around 450 years to degrade.

The wrapper is set to be rolled out this month

Researchers at the company’s research and development facility in York had many challenges to face when developing the material, and they also had to adapt packaging machinery and processes to handle the new product more gently than usual. The previous packing process the company used was only suitable for materials like plastic film and laminates, however, researchers took only 10 months to create the new sustainable wrapper and make changes to production lines to accommodate it.

This latest game-changing development comes after Nestle announced last year that it planned to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

The new wrapper will be rolled out in the YES! bars from this month and it will bear the message ‘carefully wrapped in paper.’

No compromise on quality

A spokesperson for Nestle said that paper packaging has been used in chocolate-based products before, but the new innovation is unique in that the company is able to maintain the same level of production (300 bars per minute) on existing machinery and that it can guarantee that the product will be kept fresh for at least nine months. Customers will be glad to know that there will be no compromise on quality with the shift to a paper wrapper.

Speaking of the research team’s incredible feat of turning everything around in just 10 months, the spokesperson said that speed was essential if Nestle was going to stay on track to meet its 2025 target for 100% recyclable or reusable packaging.

Nestle says it wants to lead the way in the search for and usage of alternative packaging materials and added that it will continue to innovate in this area.