Heinz develops a 100% recyclable ketchup bottle cap
After eight years of manufacturing research and development, Heinz has introduced 100% recyclable caps for its squeezy sauce bottles.
The company famous for ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and baked beans, was founded in 1869 in Pennsylvania, where it remains headquartered today with a revenue of $26b.
The manufacturing development of the new Heinz cap was years in the making
At present, Heinz sauce bottles use a valve to emit a portion size controlled by the user, but the valve was difficult to recycle.
After investing $1.2m, more than 185,000 hours and 45 failed prototypes which were printed in-house using a state-of-the-art 3D printer, a new cap has been designed to be recycled with other household products.
Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz BBQ Sauce will be the first to get the new cap, then it will become a feature for every bottle across the world, from 2022.
The company sells billions of bottles every year and this new cap will have a significant reduction on the impact on landfill. One billion plastic lids is enough to fill 35 Olympic swimming pools from being sent to landfill every year globally.
No compromise on sustainability at Heinz
Heinz has pledged to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
“We’re excited to be announcing these first-to-market innovative new caps, meaning our consumers can now recycle every part of their Heinz squeezy bottle in their weekly curbside collection”, said Jojo de Noronha, President of Kraft Heinz Northern Europe. “A huge amount of work has gone into finding the right solution that means no compromise on using and enjoying our hugely popular squeezy bottles for the hundreds of millions who buy them. While we know we still have more to do, from a sustainability and environmental perspective this is positive news.”
