The KitKat team has made a significant break in its packaging, announcing its four finger chocolate bar is now wrapped using 30 per cent recycled plastic.

This Aussie-first packaging is part of the KitKat team’s bid to give the planet a break. The move will see more than 40 million 45g KitKat bars packed in the 30 per cent recycled plastic wrapper in the next year, cutting virgin plastic use by around 250,000m ². That’s enough to cover the water surface of more than 200 50m swimming pools.

Nestlé General Manager Snacks and Confectionery, Chris O’Donnell said “While most people are familiar with bottles made with recycled plastic, soft plastic made with recycled content is a newer breakthrough. We’ve been searching high and low to find as much of this material as we can from our suppliers.”

He continued “This KitKat wrapper will continue to keep your favourite chocolate bar crisp and fresh – so you can continue to enjoy your break, while we focus on giving the planet a break. Our commitment to packaging improvements is just one of our sustainability focuses and builds on our support of cocoa farming communities and commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2025.”

Nestlé Oceania Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Margaret Stuart said the company was on a mission to cut its virgin plastics use by a third by 2025.

She continued “We hope this wrapper does more than just reduce virgin plastic use. We hope it’s a reminder of the circular potential for soft plastics and the importance of recycling your packaging. We’re not there yet, but we’d love to see a future where Australia’s soft plastic waste can be turned back into soft plastic food packaging.”

The newly packaged KitKat 45g will be available nationwide from June 2022. Nestlé is planning to introduce food grade soft plastic wrappers made with recycled content to further product ranges as global packaging supply availability increases. Head to www.kitkat.com.au/givetheplanetabreak for more information. KitKat fans can recycle their wrappers through REDcycle supermarket bins.