Nestlé aims for bottle-to-bottle circularity with recyclable shrink sleeves | Supply Chain Dive

The company said it explored multiple suppliers and materials for the packaging conversion as it advances its sustainability efforts.

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Nestlé said the Nesquik packaging conversion represents its first product on the shelf that features a recyclable shrink sleeve with light-blocking technology – an important feature for protecting these drinks, whose taste, color and vitamin levels can be susceptible to being impacted by light, the company said.

The company said it explored multiple suppliers, materials, aesthetics and other factors. “This included light transmittance tests across more than 20 candidate materials, product shelf life studies, and the completion of plastics recyclability tests to ensure the new shrink sleeve and inks would remain compatible with the U.S. recycling system,” the company said in its announcement. Recycling tests included checking for proper sorting at MRFs and ink washability.

Nestlé has been making efforts across its product portfolio to improve the sustainability of its millions of pounds of packaging materials used. Globally, Nestlé is working to design more than 95% of its plastic packaging for recycling by 2025; it hit 83.5% in 2023. With the Nesquik update, “an estimated 4,500 metric tons of PET plastic will be easier for consumers to recycle each year and more likely to be sorted accurately at recycling facilities,” the company said in its announcement.

Also by 2025, the company is trying to slash virgin plastics use by one-third from a 2018 baseline; in 2023 it was just 14.9% of the way there.

Shrink sleeves, when they use certain materials, inks and adhesives, can be a common barrier to proper bottle recycling. Problematic label constructions landed on the U.S. Plastics Pact’s list of problematic and unnecessary materials.

Some companies are working to eliminate label wraps altogether by testing embossing and laser-engraving logos and information. Others are exploring wash-off labels. Label companies including CCL and Brook + Whittle have also rolled out light-blocking shrink sleeves that they say are recyclable.

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Kelly Stroh contributed to this story.