Northern Ireland poultry giant Moy Park has reduced the amount of plastic in its packaging by 10% over the past year with the overall amount of packaging material reduced by a further 5% in 2020.
It’s part of the firm’s ‘Remove, Reduce, Recycle and Research’ strategy, which aims to lower the use of plastics and packaging across its business.
Moy Park aims to make its rigid packaging 100% recyclable by 2022, with all other packaging to be ‘recycle-ready’ by 2025.
It is reducing overall usage of packaging by 5% year-on-year while increasing the percentage of recyclable packaging by 5%.
Matt Harris, Moy Park’s head of packaging, says these milestones are a result of research and collaboration initiatives across the business and with partners.
Harris said: “When launching the strategy in 2019, we purposely set targets that would deliver tangible results for our customers, and ultimately consumers.
“The campaign has inspired our teams right across the business, with cross-functional initiatives delivering innovative solutions that reduce our reliance on plastics.
“Research and development has also been key to this, and we work closely with academics and supply chain partners to investigate how to elevate our product packaging.
While plastic material can play an essential role in food safety and food quality by extending shelf life and minimising food waste, we will continue to build on these successes, journeying with our suppliers and customers to increase the recyclability of the materials we use and decrease the amount of packaging.
“Caring for the environment is embedded in our ethos at Moy Park and the ‘Four Rs’ strategy feeds into our wider sustainability commitments.”
