© Mondelez International

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team November 25, 2020

When you pick up your yearly chocolate selection box, it might look slightly different this Christmas. Mondelez International, producer of sweet confectionery items including Cadbury Dairy Milk and Maynard Bassetts, has removed all plastic trays from its adult selection boxes in the UK and Ireland this Christmas – the equivalent of 33 tonnes of plastic.

As part of their commitment to reducing environmental impact, they’re addressing the biggest sustainability challenges relevant to their business, including plastics pollution and climate change.

They have pledged to tackle plastic waste in three key ways:

• Reducing the packaging material by optimizing packaging formats, while also minimizing food waste (They have eliminated 64,850 tons since 2013)
• Continue to simplify material choices and use innovative packaging materials to facilitate recycling in existing infrastructure
• Work in coalitions to support improved infrastructure and greater harmonization of packaging formats, so that more waste is collected and can be recycled

Using less packaging provides an economic as well as environmental benefit, not only in material costs but also in transportation and disposal.

Mondelez International is committed to making all of their packaging recyclable by 2025 and sourcing all of its paper-based packaging sustainably by 2020.

Paper is a sustainable, renewable and recyclable material, making it the perfect fit for packaging.

Paper is based on wood, a natural and renewable material. As young trees grow they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Furthermore, as a wood product, paper also continues to store carbon throughout its lifetime.

The paper industry has a number of respected certification schemes ensuring the paper you use has come from a sustainable forest source. The two most recognisable certifications are the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC™). 74% of wood and 90% of pulp purchased by the European pulp and paper industry is FSC or PEFC certified.

Furthermore, in Europe, 72% of paper consumption was recycled in 2019, making it one of the most recycled of all materials.

Find out more about Mondelez Internationals Christmas Selection Box initiative here.

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