Heinz unveils recyclable caps for iconic squeezy ketchup bottles

Image: Kraft Heinz

The new cap, crafted from a single sturdy material, renders the entire bottle recyclable through regular kerbside collection.

Next month, Heinz will roll-out the recyclable caps on 400ml and larger top-down bottles of Heinz tomato ketchup, which includes the 50% less sugar and salt variants.

The cap’s implementation will expand to other Heinz sauce products across the UK and Europe in the future.

The new, caps on Heinz bottles will feature a “100% recyclable” message for easy identification.

Kraft Heinz’s Northern Europe president Jojo de Noronha said: “We know our consumers care about their impact on the environment and so do we, which is why we’re delighted to see our innovative, more sustainable caps on Heinz Tomato Ketchup bottles across the UK.

“Although a small change, this makes it easy for the millions of Heinz lovers across the country to recycle their whole squeezy bottle at once – a small action with big potential for impact.”

The previous Heinz cap design used a flexible silicone valve and posed recycling difficulties.

With the switch to the new caps, around 300 million plastic caps annually can now be recycled instead of ending up in landfills, according to the brand.

Heinz stated previously that the development of the new cap took more than eight years and 185,0000 man-hours.

Plastic cap problem

According to an analysis from the World Economic Forum, only 16% of plastics are currently recycled, while the majority is either sent to landfills for incineration or simply dumped.

The analysis further reveals that plastic caps account for more than 6% of the total waste items polluting the world’s oceans.

Heinz has set a target to reduce its global use of virgin plastic by 20% by 2030, in addition to its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and halving them by 2030.

Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) senior sector specialist Adam Herriott added: “We fully support this innovation from Heinz and welcome this packaging development. All products and packaging have an impact on the environment.

“Through the UK Plastics Pact, our members have made some groundbreaking changes and introduced new innovations to ensure we are reusing, recycling, refilling and composting as much as possible. There is a lot of work still to be done to ensure we reach our targets and have circularity when it comes to this material.”

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