KP Snacks cut plastic packaging by 410 tonnes in 2021
KP Snacks has announced a 410 tonne reduction in plastic packaging in 2021, reducing consumer packaging by 6.8% across a number of brands.
The leading snacks business saved 142 tonnes of plastic across heritage brands Skips, Nik Naks and Space Raiders, freeing up space on retailers’ shelves and resulting in 644 fewer lorry journeys.
Additional packaging modifications also saw plastic reductions across McCoy’s, Hula Hoops and Butterkist, as well as KP Snacks market leading PMP range.
Meanwhile, the company also unveiled new modernised packaging for its iconic Hula Hoops brand, which hit the impressive £150m milestone earlier this year.
Rolling out from December, the new Hula Hoops packaging features vibrant colours, sharp graphics and bold patterns, enhancing the brand’s appeal to a wider audience. The eye-catching design and colours look to engage and disrupt shoppers, hinting at bold and tasty flavours that can be found within each pack.
As a well-loved and recognisable brand, the packaging refresh will build on Hula Hoops’ iconic look by bringing the entire range under a master-brand design, clearly communicating its sub-ranges and making it easier for consumers to navigate in store.
John McDougall, Brand Manager at KP Snacks, said: “Hula Hoops is an iconic brand and continues to be a dominant player in the CSN category, having recently surpassed the £150m RSV milestone. We are delighted to be reinvigorating the brand with an exciting packaging update across the entire range to continue driving its strong position.”
The move towards reducing packaging follows a 77 tonne packaging reduction in 2020 across Hula Hoops, Tyrrells, and popchips, the introduction of a KP Nuts’ fully recyclable Christmas nut caddy and a 100% recyclable KP Peanut Butter jar.
KP Snacks is also taking steps towards closing the loop on its packaging materials. It recently joined the Flexible Plastic Fund, a cross-industry collaboration managed by Ecosurety that is working towards a long term vision of a circular economy for flexible plastics. In collaboration with manufacturers, retailers and recyclers, the Fund will help to drive the development of UK infrastructure for flexible plastic recycling through collaboration and by providing financial incentives for recyclers.
KP Snacks has also partnered with TerraCycle® to support the recycling of bagged nuts, popcorn, crisps and pretzels packets nationwide. With locations around the UK, consumers can drop off their used KP Snacks packs for recycling. Through the TerraCycle® partnership, 13m snack packs have been recycled so far.
Nicola Robinson, Head of Sustainability at KP Snacks said: “We’re committed to lessening the environmental impact of our activities and this investment in reducing plastic across our portfolio is just the first step in this process.
“While reducing plastic in our supply chain is a key element of our approach, we also recognise our responsibility to help develop recycling solutions over the long term so that ultimately, we can turn our crisp packets back into new crisp packets. Achieving this will require deep collaboration across the value chain, which is why we’re proud to be a member of the Flexible Plastics Fund, as well as partnering with TerraCycle® to help support infrastructure development within the UK.”
