Magnum launches new tubs made with recycled plastic
Unilever's goal is for all Magnum tubs to be made from recycled plastic by 2025
Last year, Magnum was the first ice cream brand to pioneer a new recycling technology and the first to use recycled plastic in the ice cream industry.
Magnum's new pans and lids for the Pints range are designed to deal with the impact plastic has on the environment. They are fully recyclable and made from recycled polypropylene plastic (rPP).
The advanced recycling technology that makes this possible is turning previously non-recyclable plastic waste into a valuable resource. The rPP waste can be processed indefinitely, as the closed loop recycling process maintains the quality of the material and thus reduces the need for new plastic.
Initially, 600,000 of the new tubs were launched in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain in 2019. This year more than 7 million will be introduced in other European countries. The new packs will be launched worldwide from 2021.
By the end of 2020, all Magnum Pints tubs in Europe will be manufactured with rPP, which corresponds to over 160,000 kilograms of recycled plastic. Unilevers The aim is to have all Magnum tubs made from recycled plastic by 2025. The full rollout in all European countries is another exciting step towards a more sustainable future.
“We are proud to be one of the first ice cream brands in the world to pioneer this groundbreaking technology. With this new approach, we hope to lead the food and refreshment industry into a more sustainable future and pave the way for a circular economy. Today, consumers rightly expect all packaging to be sustainable, ”said Julien Barraux, Global VP at Magnum.
“By keeping our plastic materials updated, we are contributing to a healthier planet and preventing plastic pollution. With more home consumption due to Covid-19, the introduction of these tubs and their lower environmental impact will become even more relevant as the world prepares for a new future. "
Although rPP options for beauty and personal care products have been around for some time, there have not yet been any solutions approved for use in food grade packaging. So Unilever worked with SABIC – a world leader in diversified chemicals – to develop one.
The rPP used in Magnum is not obtained through traditional mechanical recycling as it is not suitable for food contact packaging. Unilever used an innovative recycling process that turns the plastic waste into resin with the same properties as virgin food-grade resin.
This new technology enables the company to recycle substandard mixed plastic waste that would otherwise most likely be for incineration or landfill. It is currently not possible to produce food grade rPP with any other recycling system.
The move is part of Unilever's broader global packaging commitment to halve the company's use of virgin plastic by reducing the absolute use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tonnes and accelerating the use of recycled plastic by 2025.
The speed at which the population is currently using the world's resources means that they will simply run out in no time. We not only have to integrate recycling into our everyday lives, but also focus on new technologies in order to urgently reduce the use of plastics.
The circular economy aims to change the way companies make, use, and ultimately dispose of materials. It ensures that the world can continue to support the needs of a growing population while reversing the current unsustainable pollution.
Plastic is a valuable material. It is critical to the safe and efficient distribution of products and has a lower carbon footprint than many alternative materials. So it has its place. This place is within the circular economy – where it is reused, recycled or composted. And where it's kept in a loop to prevent it ever finding its way into the environment.
