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Column: Paper Pragmatism as Aussie Candy Bars Switch to Fiber-Based Packs

Bob Lilienfeld, packaging consultant and executive director of the Sustainable Packaging Research, Information, and Networking Group, and I had a brief Linked-In exchange that led to a discussion on what constitutes success for paper pack formats.

Kit Kat 2

We’ve been keeping an eye on a localized spate of big confectionery brands in Australia swapping out traditional mixed-plastic flow-wrap film for what they say is curbside recyclable paper-based material. Mars Wrigley Australia’s new pack film format consists of 86% sustainably sourced FSC-certified paper, plus a thin (enough) plastic liner as a barrier layer. Not to be outdone, Nestlé Oceania’s KitKat is trialing a paper-based material using an on-pack QR code to invite consumer feedback on disposal habits for the curbside recyclable pack. These recent announcements follow similar Nestlé and Mars Wrigley paper-based confectionery pack rollouts in Europe over the past few years.

Are you sensing a trend? So is Bob Lilienfeld, a packaging consultant and executive director of SPRING (Sustainable Packaging Research, Information, and Networking Group), an online community of experienced, science- and fact-based packaging professionals pushing for a more circular, sustainable packaging future.

Lilienfeld posted the Mars Australia article on his popular LinkedIn page, predictably garnering a flurry of follower reaction ranging from praise to consternation. Seeing this activity unfolding online, I asked Lilienfeld about it. For his part, he’s taking an interested, but even-keeled approach.

“I’m a skeptic,” he told me. “Before I say ‘hey, this is a great move,’ tell me what the greenhouse gas savings are. Let’s see whether it actually improves—not the recyclability per se—but the actual collection, and then the actual conversion of these wrappers back into new materials … In my ideal world, the switch to this substrate would reduce the greenhouse gas generation over its entire lifecycle, versus having that package made out of plastic. And that’s whether or not the plastic is recycled.”

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