In 2022, Cadbury announced it had sourced 30 per cent (on a mass balance basis) of the plastic needed to wrap its 160-gram to 185-gram Cadbury Dairy Milk family blocks produced in Australia from recycled materials.
Cadbury now aims to use 50 per cent recycled plastic for its wrappers across its chocolate blocks, bars and pieces range produced in Australia. This will be equivalent to halving its virgin plastic needs to wrap those products.
The rollout of recycled material is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024, starting with blocks and expanding into bar lines such as Cherry Ripe, Crunchie and Twirl as well as pieces wraps for Roses and Favourites.
The announcement follows Cadbury’s custodian, Mondelēz International, sharing its longer-term vision to recycle plastic waste on home soil. Mondelez is partnering with Amcor to invest in Licella to fund the construction of one of the first soft plastic advanced recycling facilities in Australia.
The new facility in Melbourne, managed by Advanced Recycling Victoria (ARV), is scheduled for completion in 2025 and will initially process about 20,000 tonnes per annum of end-of-life plastic, with plans to scale up to 120,000 tonnes per annum.
Mike Cash, President of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, said he’s proud to continue to support Mondelēz International as its strive to be the most sustainable snacking company in Australia and New Zealand.
“We partnered with Mondelēz when they made the first step to move to recycled content for their Cadbury Dairy Milk family blocks packaging, now we’re helping them elevate this ambition by sourcing 1000 tonnes of recycled plastic to help reduce virgin material across more of the Cadbury chocolate portfolio.”
“Being able to source this significant volume of recycled material for Mondelēz gives them the opportunity to differentiate and grow, and demonstrates the collective commitment of Mondelez’s leadership.”
According to Darren O’Brien, President – Mondelēz International Australia, New Zealand and Japan, reducing virgin plastic use and supporting a circular packaging economy is a focus for the business.
This latest deal to purchase recycled plastic is another important step in the journey.
“By creating confidence in the market for recycled material, we’re helping to build a future for plastic recycling in this country,” O’Brien said.
“Chocolate lovers love Cadbury Dairy Milk for its generous ‘glass and a half’ slogan, but when it comes to virgin plastic in our packaging, less is more. By halving our virgin plastic needs in our Cadbury chocolate blocks, bars and pieces portfolio, we are on a path to better packaging.”
