Criticism over poor Pringles tube recyclability intensifies
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 - 15:09:25
Last year the popular snack brand Pringles came under fire after it was revealed that the tubes in which its crisps are sold cannot be recycled, in spite of the fact that they are predominantly made from cardboard.
Today, parent firm Kellogg’s has announced that it is introducing a recycling scheme to help cope with this issue, but industry experts are not happy with its solution.
Packaging News reports that representatives of the Recycling Association have been critical of Kellogg’s offer to allow customers to send them their old Pringles tubes in the post so that they can be processed by TerraCycle.
It is apparently possible to turn the mixed material packaging into pellets that are straightforward to convert into other products. Furthermore it is completely free to send the tubes thanks to a freepost address that Kellogg’s has created.
Recycling Association spokesperson, Simon Ellin, said that while this was technically a step in the right direction, it did not address the root of the problem and still meant that consumers could not simply pop their used Pringles packaging in with their kerbside collected materials at home.
He questioned the likelihood that anyone would be compelled to head to the post office with an empty tube and send it off, guessing instead that most would simply put it in with the general waste.
Ellin also argued that Kellogg’s has approached this from the wrong direction, and should instead completely revise the design of the can so that it is 100 per cent recyclable, rather than using a stop gap measure to appease critics.
At the time of writing Kellogg’s has not responded to these new concerns, but if pressure mounts it could finally be convinced to make the changes that are definitely needed.
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