Nestlé Oceania has announced that its popular Smarties confectionery range has been switched to recyclable paper packaging in Australia.
While some Smarties packs sold in Australia are already in paper, the change sees all plastic packaging replaced with new recyclable paper packaging.
The change is part of a global move, making Smarties the “first global confectionery brand entirely sold in recyclable paper packaging, removing approximately 250 million plastic packs sold globally every year.”
While the Smarties range – including single serve cartons, share packs, bags and blocks – may look different on the outside, on the inside, fans will find the same Smarties with “no artificial colours or flavours, and made with 100% sustainable cocoa since 2013.”
Nestlé General Manager Confectionery Chris O’Donnell said: “Shifting Smarties packaging to recyclable paper is an important step in realising Nestlé’s ambition to reduce our use of virgin plastics by a third by 2025.”
The paper used in the range is all sourced sustainably, including coated paper, paper labels, and carton board. The Australasian Recycling Label is included on all packs to raise consumer awareness and ensure Smarties fans know how to recycle the packs.
Mr O’Donnell added: “Developing safe and convenient paper-based solutions for Smarties has required pioneering new materials and testing by Nestlé packaging experts at both our Confectionery R&D Centre in the UK and the Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences in Switzerland.
“We also had to invest in upgrading all the factories that make Smarties. The paper packaging requires careful handling, so we needed to adapt our manufacturing lines to allow for the new formats.”
The Nestlé factory at Campbellfield in Melbourne upgraded its manufacturing process to shift to paper packaging, investing in new production equipment including a new wrapper machine.