And you thought plastic straws were a priority?After 185,000 product development hours and a decade in the making, ketchup maker Heinz is rolling out what is being touted as a truly innovative packaging solution — the world’s first 100% recyclable bottle cap.That’s right. Heinz, which was the world’s first company devoted to food safety by putting its product in clear glass bottles, has spent $1.2 million creating a new version of its plastic bottle cap that can be treated at recycling plants in Europe and North America.."We're delighted that the finished result exceeds our initial expectations and actually improves the consumer experience."Matthias Hammersen, sales director, Heinz.What makes the new Heinz bottle cap different from the old version is that the new cap is made from only one material: mono-material polypropene (PP). The old cap used multiple types of plastic including a difficult-to-recycle silicone material for the valve that controls how much ketchup comes out, meaning that the recycling facilities needed to physically separate the silicone from the rest of the cap to process it.Company officials say the new design could save hundreds of millions of bottle caps every year from ending up in landfills. It has potential for other products such as shampoo.The design won the company the ‘Pack of the Year’ award at the 2023 UK Packaging Awards..According to packaging maker Berry Global: "Heinz set us the kind of challenge that suits us and our development departments best: to reconstruct the design of the cap to make it 100% recyclable, without affecting the performance that millions of consumers know and love," said Matthias Hammersen, sales director. "We're delighted that the finished result exceeds our initial expectations and actually improves the consumer experience."In addition to making its bottle caps 100% recyclable, Heinz has also set a goal of reducing its use of ‘virgin’ plastic globally by 20% which would amount to more than 100 million fewer pounds of the matériels by 2030.
And you thought plastic straws were a priority?After 185,000 product development hours and a decade in the making, ketchup maker Heinz is rolling out what is being touted as a truly innovative packaging solution — the world’s first 100% recyclable bottle cap.That’s right. Heinz, which was the world’s first company devoted to food safety by putting its product in clear glass bottles, has spent $1.2 million creating a new version of its plastic bottle cap that can be treated at recycling plants in Europe and North America.."We're delighted that the finished result exceeds our initial expectations and actually improves the consumer experience."Matthias Hammersen, sales director, Heinz.What makes the new Heinz bottle cap different from the old version is that the new cap is made from only one material: mono-material polypropene (PP). The old cap used multiple types of plastic including a difficult-to-recycle silicone material for the valve that controls how much ketchup comes out, meaning that the recycling facilities needed to physically separate the silicone from the rest of the cap to process it.Company officials say the new design could save hundreds of millions of bottle caps every year from ending up in landfills. It has potential for other products such as shampoo.The design won the company the ‘Pack of the Year’ award at the 2023 UK Packaging Awards..According to packaging maker Berry Global: "Heinz set us the kind of challenge that suits us and our development departments best: to reconstruct the design of the cap to make it 100% recyclable, without affecting the performance that millions of consumers know and love," said Matthias Hammersen, sales director. "We're delighted that the finished result exceeds our initial expectations and actually improves the consumer experience."In addition to making its bottle caps 100% recyclable, Heinz has also set a goal of reducing its use of ‘virgin’ plastic globally by 20% which would amount to more than 100 million fewer pounds of the matériels by 2030.
