Recycled Heinz pack ‘snaps’ up gold for circularity

The iconic Heinz 'Snap Pot' has won a Gold Award at the Environmental Packaging Awards. The jury was impressed by the packaging project with its ability to support the shift towards a circular economy.

The Heinz Snap Pot, produced by Berry Global, has added yet another accolade to its already impressive trophy cabinet after clinching a Gold Award at the Environmental Packaging Awards 2023.

Entered in the Ambient Food category by brand owner Kraft Heinz, the packaging concept was given the award due to the Snap Pot's successful transition to a version made with 39% recycled plastic. The judges were impressed by the project with its ability to support the move towards a circular economy. This has been achieved by diverting, recovering, and upcycling plastics which would otherwise have been sent to landfill or incineration.

The Gold Award recognises how the team of companies involved have improved the sustainability of the Heinz Snap Pot while retaining the qualities that continue to make it popular with consumers: a convenient snapable format, microwave readiness, and freshness retention.

Collaborative effort across the supply chain
This latest tribute to the snap pot follows a UK Packaging Award and a Silver Award at the global Packaging Innovation Awards. The winning Heinz Snap Pot concept, first launched in 2008, was developed in partnership between Heinz, Tesco, Berry Global, and recycling technology experts Plastic Energy and Sabic. Since then, the Snap Pot has continually evolved to incorporate advances in post-consumer recycled content for food packaging and to meet the growing demand from supermarkets and end-users for more sustainable packaging.

"We are delighted that the Heinz Snap Pot continues to inspire our peers in the packaging industry, just as it has captured the imagination of millions of consumers," said Matthias Michaelis, Key Account Director of Berry Global. "This latest award win reinforces the importance of collaborative effort across the supply chain to enhance sustainability while maintaining the excellent properties of the original packaging concept."

The circle leading to the Snap Pot
But what is the process behind it all? First, consumers at Tesco return the soft plastic products to Tesco stores who collect them for conversion by Plastic Energy into an optimal oil feedstock. Then, this is combined with virgin material by Sabic to create an alternative feedstock for manufacturing recycled, food-contact approved plastic pellets.

These pellets are sent to the ISCC-certified Berry Superfos facility in Bremervörde, Germany, and used for producing new snap pots which are then filled by Kraft Heinz with delicious beans in tomato sauce. The Heinz Snap Pot comprises 39% ISCC PLUS-certified (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) recycled plastic on a mass balance basis.

After use, the snap pots can be recycled through kerbside collection.