Chemistry, Materials & Packaging
Nestlé Creates Industry-First, Recyclable Paper Snack Packaging

This week, Nestlé SA introduced a world first for confectionery packaging: a bar packaged in paper using a high-speed, flow-wrap technology.

The Swiss food giant’s Yes! range of fruit- and nut-based bars will become the first brand to convert to the new recyclable paper wrapper, featuring a water-based coating to ensure freshness and shelf life, which will be rolled out this month in Europe.

The launch has unlocked the potential for recyclable paper packaging to be widely used in the confectionery industry, as Nestlé says it developed a method to use paper at the high speeds necessary for packaging a mass consumer product. Until now, high-speed production of shelf-stable snacks was only achieved using plastic films and laminates, which are stretchable and light — now, paper can be used at large scale while guaranteeing product quality and freshness over the entire shelf life.

Jas Scott de Martinville, global confectionery R&D lead for Nestlé, told Packaging News: “This launch is the result of a lot of hard work at speed, with our R&D teams delivering a recyclable paper solution for our YES! bars in less than 10 months. It is an incredible achievement and one that we are all very proud of.”

The new paper wrapper can be widely recycled in the countries where it will be available; and the paper is sourced sustainably, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and The Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.

“In light of this commitment, it’s really important that we start the journey now and start showing the way, leading the way, in terms of alternative packaging materials,” Scott de Martinville told the Metro: “Now that we have delivered our first, we will continue to work and we will be seeing more from Nestlé in this domain.”

Food and beverage companies around the world have come under pressure from consumers and environmental groups to stop producing so much plastic; the new paper wrapper is the latest step in Nestlé’s multi-pronged strategy to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. Nestlé was one of the first companies to sign on to TerraCycle’s Loop platform, for which participating brands develop unique, reusable packaging; in April, the company partnered to scale use of the world’s first enzymatic plastic-recycling technology; Nestlé announced last month that its Poland Spring brand is aiming to be the first major bottled water brand to reach 100 percent recycled plastic by 2022; and Nestlé joins fellow beverage giants evian and PepsiCo in developing a home water dispensing system based on refillable bottles.

With the new paper wrapper and a wider range of flavors, Yes! is now being launched in more countries. It will now be available in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the UK. More countries in Europe and beyond will follow soon.