If you pick up a Mars bar from Tesco in the near future, don't be alarmed when you notice a change to the popular chocolate treat's packaging.
That's because Mars Incorporated are trialling a brand new environmentally-friendly way of packaging their product exclusively with the leading supermarket, opting to use paper rather than plastic.
The pilot run lands for a limited time, as Mars explores other avenues of sustainable packaging - with executives behind the operation detailing how they will use what they have learned to inform other trials.
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The PA News Agency reports that Richard Sutherland-Moore, who is the packaging expert at Mars Wrigley UK’s research and development centre in Slough, said: “We are exploring different types of alternative packaging solutions for our confectionery products.
“For Mars bar, the challenge was to find the right paper packaging solution with an adequate level of barrier properties to protect the chocolate whilst guaranteeing the food safety, quality and integrity of the product to prevent food waste.”
Running as part of the company's Sustainable in a Generation Plan, Mars is investing hundreds of millions of pounds to ensure that they meet their goal of reducing usage of virgin plastics by a third in the short-term - which includes using less plastic, recycled plastic, and other suitable alternatives.
General Manager at Mars Wrigley UK, Adam Grant, added: "With our Mars bar pilot project, we are taking a big step to see how paper-based packaging works in everyday life. From the test, we will derive insights for our sustainable packaging strategy.
"While challenges may impact the pace of progress towards our vision, we at Mars Incorporated are committed to scaling up viable solutions where recycling options exist, and to test, learn, partner and advocate where they don’t."
The move comes after the company achieved carbon neutrality for the first ever time this year - via carbon credits and emission reductions. Andrew Floor - Packaging Development Manager at Tesco - said: "We’re delighted to partner with Mars Wrigley to trial an alternative version of their iconic Mars bar packaging – aligning to our own strategy of removing plastic and packaging in our business where we can, reducing it where we can’t, reusing more and recycling what’s left."
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