Mondelēz International has completed the replacement of rigid PET plastic trays with FSC-certified paper trays across its flagship European cookie range, in what it describes as its largest packaging sustainability initiative in its European bakery category.
The transition covers more than 115 products across eight brands – LU, Milka, Granola, Cadbury, Marabou, Chips Ahoy!, Lacta and Freia – and reaches consumers in more than 25 European markets, including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the Nordic countries.
In the UK, Cadbury Crunchy Melts, Cadbury Chocolate Chip Cookie and LU Petit Cookie products will feature the new paper trays.
The products covered represent around 28,000 tonnes of cookies produced annually. Mondelēz expects the move to eliminate around 2,200 tonnes of virgin plastic each year, an approximately 80 per cent reduction compared with the previous packaging.
The company said the change will also give consumers packaging that can be more easily recycled, with plastic-reduction messaging displayed on packs.
The initiative forms part of Mondelēz’s wider programme to reduce plastic across its bakery portfolio. Previous measures have included the use of around 80% recycled PET (rPET) in trays for brands including Milka, Oreo, Cadbury and Chips Ahoy!, alongside the use of advanced recycling technology for Cadbury Dairy Milk flexible packaging.
In the UK, the company has also been moving selected products into paper-based packaging. This has included a 2025 trial of Cadbury Heroes in paper tubs and paper outer packaging for Cadbury Animals and Mini Fingers Biscuits Multipacks.
“This is a transformation we are proud to have engineered from the ground up,” Olivier Kintzig, biscuits packaging director, Europe at Mondelēz International, said.
“Replacing rigid plastic with paper across 115 products, 8 brands and 25 European markets in a matter of months required rethinking every layer of our packaging – from tray design to logistics. As packaging professionals, this is exactly the kind of bold, systemic change we exist to deliver.”
Joanna Dias, UK&I Sustainability Lead at Mondelēz International, said the introduction of paper trays for cookies built on recent packaging initiatives for products including Cadbury Heroes, Cadbury Mini Eggs and Cadbury Dairy Milk.
She said the move represented “further success on our journey towards bringing consumers products they love in more sustainable packaging.”