WestRock (NYSE: WRK), a leading provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, has announced it is partnering with Heinz UK to implement WestRock’s Cluster-Wing™ paperboard multipack design to continue to remove single-use plastic packaging from supermarket shelves. Heinz is first to market with WestRock’s new, patent-pending packaging innovation which offers a sustainable, robust and convenient alternative to single-use plastic shrink wrap packaging.
The move advances Heinz’s sustainability initiatives. According to Heinz, it will eliminate 550 tons of plastic packaging from its supply chain. The innovative, glue-free design uses 50 percent less paperboard material than a fully enclosed box and 10 percent less material than a traditional sleeve design. Made with WestRock’s PEFC-certified CarrierKote® paperboard, the new sleeve comes from sustainably managed forests and is recyclable.
The flexible and efficient automation to apply these sleeves is part of a three-year, £25 million investment and installation at Heinz’s Kitt Green factory. Available now across Heinz Soups as part of the “winter bundle” on Heinz to Home, these innovative Cluster-Wing sleeve multipacks will be launching across all Heinz’s canned products and major retailers in the UK in fall 2021.
“We’re extremely proud to leverage the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of sustainable paper and packaging products to create customized, consumer-centric solutions like Cluster-Wing,” said Mark Shaw, WestRock’s general manager for Food & Beverage EMEA. “Our team worked in close collaboration with Heinz stakeholders to deliver a solution that would enable Heinz to achieve their sustainability goals and resonate in the UK market, while managing the cost and risk of this transition.”
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