Quality Axes plastic packaging for recyclable paper

Quality Street's multicolored confections will now all be a little greener - or it's the hope - as foil and plastic wrappers are replaced with recyclable paper.

The change marks the first move away from rustling and shiny plastic packaging for the brand in 86 years since Harold Mackintosh launched the brand in 1936 - with the intention of keeping 2 billion packaging per year out of landfills.

The latest change comes after brand owner Nestlé tried replacing the outer layer of plastic with cellulose compostable in 2008, but he discovered that most were still tossed in the trash. type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement" class="dcr-1mfia18"/>

Nine of 11 Quality Street candies will switch to paper-based packaging, which most local authorities collect. The orange crisp and the green triangle will remain in foil wrappers as traditionally they did not have a plastic layer.

New paper wrappers are covered with a specially created vegetable-based wrapper designed to keep candy fresh without hampering the recycling process.

The changeover will take several months, so Christmas fans will find a mix old and new packaging in their Quality Street bins and boxes.

Nestlé, the owner of popular Christmas treats, said it was also replacing KitKat packaging using 80% recycled plastic which could be recycled in supermarkets across the UK or put into household recycling in Ireland.

KitKat's redesign comes 21 years after replacing its traditional paper and aluminum packaging minium entirely recyclable by plastic. Smarties, also owned by Nestlé, introduced recyclable paper packaging last year.

The company said it hoped the changes would eliminate 3 billion pieces of packaging a year from its supply chain.

Helen Bird, of government-backed recycling body Wrap, said consumers were very concerned about the ease with that it was possible to recycle plastic packaging and that it required good design, good collection and good infrastructure as well as demand for the recycled material.

She said "Plastic packaging is not yet collected by local authorities, but this is expected to change in the coming years. In the meantime, major supermarkets offer 5,000 collection points for all types of plastic bags and packaging.

“We salute Let's see these new initiatives from Nestlé, a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact, to improve Quality Street's recyclability and use advanced recycling technology to include recycled plastic in its KitKat packaging - something we need to significantly scale up in the UK. united and worldwide. We look forward to the continued deployment."