After 5 years and over €100m spent on R&D, Pringles have started to roll out their 100% recyclable packaging in a few select marketing in Europe (UK, Belgium & Netherlands).
This is great news from a recycling viewpoint. The 2 main issues stopping us from recycling effectively is contamination (rinse your recycling people) and mixed material, where although all the parts are recyclable the way they are put together makes them difficult to do so. This is why Pringles getting rid of their metal base is such good news. We receive quite a few pringles can into our facility from people who believe, that because the top is plastic, the sides are paper and the base is metal, it's easily recycled. I challenge you to see how easily you can remove that base from the tube, it's surprisingly difficult.
Senior Director of Salty Snacks at Kellanova Tracy Murphy spoke on the new Pringles packaging saying:
"As part of our Better Days Promise, we have been working hard to reduce our environmental footprint. The recyclable Pringles tube is another crucial step in our sustainable packaging journey. Based on the trial of the paper tube in 2020, we already know that consumers love the new look and we’re now very excited that they’ll be able to get their hands on it.”
The fact that the packaging is now more easily recycled doesn't guarantee that the end user will dispose of it correctly, but at least now it means that those who do, will know that it will be recycled.
We are all to quick to focus on plastic as the bad guy in packaging, which is definitely something we need to be aware of, but instead we need to look at mixed material packaging when it comes to sustainability. The message "Made from recyclable material" does not mean it's recyclable as a whole and purchasing choices should be influenced by the material the product comes in. Ultimately pressure needs to be put onto the manufacturers to be more conscience of their packaging and how it's made.
I for one will look out for the fully paper Pringles tubes and will happily put it in my paper recycling bin!