Mars' Australian subsidiary MasterFoods has initiated a trial of recyclable and single-serve tomato sauce packs in Australia, as part of its efforts to reduce plastic usage in packaging.
The new packs, which utilise 58% less plastic than their predecessors, can be recycled through standard kerbside collection.
Commencing this month and running until April 2025, the trial will distribute more than a million units of paper-based packaging for consumer evaluation across diverse locations such as sporting stadiums, petrol stations, mining sites, and pie shops.
Mars Food & Nutrition's manufacturing site in Wyong, Australia, is involved in the production of MasterFoods' recyclable squeeze-on tomato sauce packs.
The product results from five years of research and development and an investment of A$3m ($1.97m) to date.
Considering the company uses more than 240 million sauce packs annually, the trial is expected to be a crucial component of the company’s sustainable packaging strategy.
Mars Food & Nutrition Australia general manager Bill Heague said: “The trial of paper-based MasterFoods Recyclable Squeeze-On Tomato Sauce packs marks another important milestone in Mars’ sustainability journey, and demonstrates the role the food industry can play in working towards a circular economy.
“This trial will allow us to better understand how this new paper-recyclable squeeze-on performs so we can take these learnings forwards.”
The trial is a collaborative effort with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).
The scheme aims to gather data on the pack's performance and determine better ways to educate consumers on recycling the product post-consumption.
APCO CEO Chris Foley said: “I commend Mars for collaborating with APCO throughout the development process, taking a thoughtful and iterative approach to trial and refine the new packaging format.”
Partnering with Easysnap Technology, an Italian company specialising in recyclable one-handed packaging technology, MasterFoods has developed a pack that aligns with the company's commitment to a circular economy and meets Australia’s National Packaging Targets.
In March this year, Mars announced an investment of over $70m in its Hackettstown facility in New Jersey, US.
