Princes cuts CO2 emissions by 1,100 tonnes with sustainable packaging initiatives
As COP26 takes place in Glasgow the food and drink company said that plastic reduction initiatives between 2018 to 2020 have led to almost 2,000 tonnes of plastic being removed representing a 6% decrease across the group.
Princes has reported that the average recycled content of plastic across its UK manufacturing base is 45%. In addition, 99% of the plastic in its UK manufactured products is classified as widely recyclable.
Projects include weight reductions across edible oils and soft drinks bottles for customer own brands. Princes’ Jucee brand is also switching to 100% recycled plastic bottles for its fruit squash range, while Napolina has moved its core pasta range from plastic into cardboard.
Last year, the company revealed an ambition to switch all of its branded tuna multipacks to cardboard sleeve packaging as part of a major initiative, which has removed 96 tonnes of plastic annually, as well the removal of non-recyclable Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) from its products.
“Princes has made significant progress in advancing packaging sustainability in recent years, with a firm focus on reducing plastic, increasing our use of recycled materials and ensuring packaging is widely recyclable. These latest changes are more solid steps in the right direction, but this work won’t stop there,” said David McDiarmid, corporate relations director at Princes.
“We recognise that far too much plastic packaging is thrown away and that more effort needs to be made across all industries to reduce, reuse, recycle and embed the principles of a truly circular economy. It’s great to see our brands taking very public steps in this space, but also the important day-to-day progress being made behind the scenes. A 700-tonne plastic reduction, for example, has been achieved in oils and drinks bottles used in retailer own brand products. This is a huge reduction and a great testament to the hard work of our packaging team and site colleagues.”
Continued progress to reduce waste and reuse materials is key to Princes’ 2030 GreenGoals initiative, which outlines the Group’s commitment to cut general waste by 30% and become a carbon neutral business across its UK and international operations by 2030.
Earlier this year Princes finished the first phase of a £60m investment in its Cardiff soft drinks factory – the largest spend on that division, which will take the company into new markets.
