Cadbury Australia partners with Amcor for PCR plastic packaging

Cadbury Australia proudly announces its collaboration with Amcor, to integrate post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic into its chocolate range packaging. This strategic partnership accelerates Cadbury's commitment to reducing its reliance on virgin plastic materials.

In a significant milestone achieved in 2022, Cadbury successfully sourced approximately 30% of the plastic needed for its 160g to 185g Cadbury Dairy Milk family blocks from recycled materials. With this latest agreement, Cadbury aims to further enhance its use of recycled plastic to approximately 50% across its chocolate block, bar, and piece range manufactured in Australia. This transformative move effectively cuts the brand's requirement for virgin plastic in half for packaging these beloved products.

The transition to recycled material is set to commence in the first quarter of 2024, starting with chocolate blocks and expanding to include popular bar lines like Cherry Ripe, Crunchie, and Twirl, as well as wraps for Roses and Favourites pieces.

This announcement is part of Cadbury's ongoing commitment to sustainability and aligns closely with its parent company, Mondelēz International's, vision for recycling plastic waste locally. Mondelēz has partnered with Amcor to invest in Licella, supporting the establishment of one of Australia's pioneering soft plastic advanced recycling facilities in Melbourne. Managed by Advanced Recycling Victoria (ARV), this facility is scheduled to be operational by 2025, initially processing approximately 20,000 tons of end-of-life plastic annually, with plans for significant scaling to around 120,000 tons per annum.

Darren O’Brien, President – Mondelēz International Australia, New Zealand and Japan, said: Reducing virgin plastic use and supporting a circular packaging economy is a focus for our business and this latest deal to purchase recycled plastic is another important step in our journey. By creating confidence in the market for recycled material, we’re helping to build a future for plastic recycling in this country. Chocolate lovers love Cadbury Dairy Milk for its generous ‘glass and a half’ slogan, but when it comes to virgin plastic in our packaging, less is more. By halving our virgin plastic needs in our Cadbury chocolate blocks, bars and pieces portfolio, we are on a path to better packaging.