Walkers Chocolates is the latest consumer food-product brand owner to switch its flexible packaging from plastic to 100% recyclable paper. The company is moving its Turkish Delight and Mint Cream chocolate bars into EvoPak RCM material. The bars begin rolling out to selected Asda and Premier stores in the United Kingdom this month.
Unlike conventional paper packaging which often contains polyethylene, consumers can dispose of the new Walkers’ wrapper via curbside recycling along with other paper recyclable items. Currently, it is only possible to recycle similar wrappers by returning them to the store, which isn’t convenient for consumers and in many cases, where recycling processes aren’t carefully controlled, the wrapper still ends up in landfill or incinerated. Significantly, if littered, the new wrapper does not produce harmful microplastics when it breaks down, which cause damage to the environment and animal health.
Developed by EvoPak, a converter of sustainable paper-based flexible packaging, the new paper wrapper (known as RCM) uses the same technology as the world’s first fully recyclable chips packet – the innovative polymer, Hydropol™, developed by Aquapak, which is used in place of conventional plastic.
To keep the chocolate fresh and in good condition in transit and on the shelf, the packaging needs to provide protection from oxygen, seal well on standard flow-wrappers and must be easy to print on. Hydropol™ provides all this functionality as well as multiple safe end-of-life disposal options for consumers and brands. Hydropol™ allows paper to remain fully recyclable and compostable and is even compatible with anaerobic digestion. Thanks to its solubility, it doesn’t interfere with the recycling process and can allow up to 100% paper-fiberrecovery in standard mills.
Furthermore, if unintentionally released into the natural environment, Hydropol™ – which is both non-toxic and marine-safe – still has a safe end-of life and will dissolve and subsequently biodegrade. It does not break down into harmful microplastics either in the paper mill or if packaging it is not disposed of as intended. It is already being used in products such as chips bags, chocolate and garment bags.