Heinz Partners with WestRock to Remove 550 Tonnes of Plastic Packaging from Multipacks in UK Supermarkets

Heinz has announced that it is continuing its mission to remove plastic from supermarket shelves with the UK roll-out of the Heinz Eco-Friendly Sleeve Multipack, a new, convenient, super skinny paperboard sleeve for all its multipack canned products.

Made with WestRock’s PEFC-certified CarrierKote® paperboard, the Heinz Eco-Friendly Sleeve is recyclable and comes from sustainably managed forests. The innovative wrap design uses no glue and 50 percent less material than a fully enclosed wraparound box and 10 percent less than a traditional paperboard sleeve design.

In addition to selecting renewable, responsibly sourced material and optimizing the design to minimize the footprint, Heinz is also advancing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the manufacturing and transport of this new innovative sleeve is carbon neutral. The Heinz Eco-Friendly Sleeve 4-pack design reportedly has a nearly 20 percent (18.7 percent) lower CO₂ footprint compared with the equivalent shrink-wrap design.

Following a successful trial on Heinz to Home, the Heinz Eco-Friendly Sleeve will be available across the whole Heinz multipack canned range, including Heinz Beanz, Heinz Soups and Heinz Pasta varieties, in major retailers in the UK beginning in September.

Heinz’s innovative, recyclable packaging solution is an industry first for the food and drink world and part of a three-year, £25 million investment and installation at the Heinz Kitt Green factory near Wigan. It’s designed to provide convenience and value to shoppers, while offering a more sustainable solution to single-use plastic shrink-wrap packaging.

This latest news follows an announcement from Heinz in early 2020 that it was removing plastic shrink-wrap from multipacks of Heinz Soup, Beanz and Pasta across Tesco stores nationwide, instantly removing 175 tonnes of plastic from shelves.

As part of Heinz’s pledge to aim to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, the company is also working on broader sustainability initiatives, such as a partnership with waste-free online shop Loop to collect, clean and refill used Heinz Tomato Ketchup glass bottles.

Heinz Europe is also on track to deliver its first circular Tomato Ketchup squeezy bottle to the market in 2021, a year ahead of plan, which means it can be made back into food-grade packaging.

For more information, visit https://www.westrock.com.