Sustainably Report Packaging Commitment

Just seen the announcement on the social channels, that the commitment to have the whole range of packaging fully recyclable by 2025 - will be completed and rolled out this year. Amazing work to get this done – especially getting a usable mono-material replacement for the dreaded MLP pouches – in this compressed time frame. Well done team Huel :clap:

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Thanks Phil! Let me share the post here too. Any questions let us know :point_down:

In the next year you are going to see:

:recycle: Recyclable pouches for v3.0, Black Edition and Hot & Savoury

  • Made from a mono-material instead of plastic and metal fused together
  • This means the material can be recycled
  • Fully recyclable, verified by Recyclass, across all of UK and Europe
  • Recyclable alongside soft plastics and films, at home where available or at collection centres

And not just that!
:recycle: Recyclable Bar wrappers
:white_circle: Transparent Ready-to-drink bottles (already 51% recycled plastic). This increases quality and value of recycled material to help drive a circular economy
:muscle: Complete Protein tub now with a white lid to make it fully recyclable

This is in addition to all the other amazing progress we’ve made recently:
:black_small_square:Replacing black Ready-to-drink lids with white lids
:black_small_square:Phasing out our black cardboard boxes for regular to reduce ink usage
:black_small_square:Prioritising electric vehicles for delivery where possible

You will start to see our new recyclable pouches within the next year in the UK, towards mid-2023 in the US as we run down our stock of pouches.

This has been a huge challenge, but we know if we want to truly provide sustainable nutrition this is the only way. We are so proud to be able to reach our targets 3 years earlier than planned.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeavILwBV48/

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@Tim_Huel Will this impact the shelf life, or are you still going to use a shrink sleeve as the UV barrier?

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This is brilliant news.

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The sleeve will still be there and will act as the light barrier!

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Hello @Tim_Huel !! This is f… great news!!!

As I have been working on a completely sustainable packaging for my own company this year I would like to know a lot more about the new pouches!

Which is the material made from? 100% plastic?
How do you achieve the recyclability (removing the metal layer? and making 100% plastic?)
Was it available on the market or you had to create it
Is it the same company or is it a new supplier?
Do the price per pouch changes a lot? How much difference, or maybe it has no difference between the old one and new one per unit, it depends

Its very interesting for me. I guess it has been a real challenge for you.
:slight_smile:

Some great questions, Adrián! We’ll be able to reveal a little more once we get closer to the time. We’re definitely going to be doing some more in depth content which explains some of what you are asking for, as well as how to recycle it. Probably won’t be sharing cost of the pouches or company/ies we’re using but will sure give you a load more information in time!

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This makes me so happy :grinning: :deciduous_tree:

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This is good to hear. Any truly recylable packaging will be a welcome change.
An old forum claimed that waxed paper was not recyclable, which was at odds with recent labeling on this type of packaging. It seems that it is possible to recycle now, but requires separation. This is because a process is needed to remove the wax. However, this sort of packaging has also always been compostable, which is almost as good, like natural organic carbon returned to soil.

I’ll be interested to see what solutions Huel chooses for Huel powder, but kudos on the plan and its acceleration. Many customers will be happier!

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Thank you @Elroch we’re excited to share all our changes and continue to strive to hit our goal :green_heart:

Certain types of waxed substrates can be recycled in specialist recycling streams depending on the type of wax used and impregnation or coating method but, generally they can’t and unless they are put in that stream specifically – they’ll go in the landfill.

Waxed papers are biodegradable but NOT compostable. The ONLY waxed paper that is safe to compost are ones that use vegetable or soy based waxes. However, the majority do not use these and instead use petroleum based waxes with mid to high melt resistance and grease repelling properties. This is achieved by adding EVA polymers, polyethylenes and other surface modification materials.

If you put these into compost, when they break down they will contaminate the organic matter and the soil it is added to. There is nothing natural or organic about it at all.

Compostable is also a waste of time for a mass market product. How many people have composters? Be lucky if its 1 in 10.

Less than that in the UK

I was thinking of the decentralised composting that is regarded as the most beneficial form by my sources. Decentralized Community Composting | Encyclopedia MDPI.

As a general heads up to anyone composting their packaging – you should only ever put packaging or packaging materials into a domestic or industrial composting stream if it has one of these markings on it (they will vary by country/region):

or you are 100% sure it is an inert and chemical free material (which is difficult to be 100% so just don’t do it). Obviously – if the marking indicates industrial composting – do not put it in your backyard pile/bin.

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