Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cereal packaging is going fully paper based with the trial of a paper
liner in the UK that can be widely recycled.
The pilot will take part in partnership with Tesco in a small number of stores from January
2022 with the results helping to shape Kellogg’s future packaging plans.
The plastic inner liner in cereal boxes is not currently widely accepted in kerbside recycling.
Kellogg’s packaging technologists have worked to create paper-based inner packaging for
its cereal that can survive the process of filling and sealing millions of bags in boxes of
cereal produced in its factory and transporting them to retailers.
The outer recycled card packaging of the company’s cereals boxes are fully recyclable
and have been for many years.
This is part of Kellogg’s Wellbeing Manifesto launched in May this year. The new action plan
is a decade-long commitment from the company to improve its food and packaging so that
it’s better for people, the planet and the community.
The company says the results of this trial are crucial as it plans for fully recyclable cereal
packaging whether that’s plastic liners being recyclable at kerbside similar to countries like
Ireland and Belgium, or the roll out of cereal packaging that is fully paper based.
It’s also important the cereal is kept fresh inside a paper liner as cereal has a 12-month shelf life.
Chris Silcock, Kellogg UK and Ireland Managing Director, said: “We know people want to
do more to help the planet and that’s why we are working hard towards meeting our
commitment of all Kellogg’s packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable by the end of 2025. This important trial of fully paper cereal packaging ensures we have explored all our options.
“Ultimately, we would prefer plastic liners to be accepted in home recycling as our data tells
us that they are better for the planet over the full life cycle of the packaging, but this trial
ensures we have an alternative.”
Tesco grocery director, David Beardmore, said: “We are committed to working with our
suppliers to remove, reduce, reuse and recycle packaging, particularly plastic. It’s great to
see that Kellogg is trialling a paper cereal bag in our stores – our customers will be pleased
that they can easily recycle the bag at home. We call on suppliers to test and roll out actions like this; using as little material as possible and making sure that necessary packaging is easy to recycle.”
Kellogg and Tesco have been working closely on several initiatives to improve the
recyclability of their packaging and previously trialled a fully recyclable Pringle’s paper can in 2020.
