Mondelez International has made an investment in Pack2Earth, a startup based in Spain focused on the development of “bio-based” packaging.
The snacks giant participated in a $1 million seed round investment in Pack2Earth, which is actively developing alternatives to plastic.
In a brief statement, the Cadbury maker said, “This investment, part of Mondelez International’s Sustainable Futures impact investing platform, is very much aligned with our long-term ambition for packaging circularity and an example of the company acting as a catalyst and collaborator.”
Mondelez set up Sustainable Futures in 2021 to finance “environmental and social projects that can help drive meaningful, long-term change”, CEO and chairman Dirk Van de Put said at the time.
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Founded in 2022, Pack2Earth, S.L. is working on the development of bio-based flexible film and injection materials that are compostable at ambient temperature and described as “organically recyclable,” according to the Barcelona-based company.
These materials can be utilized to produce packaging suitable for long-life ambient and “semi-liquid” products.
Pack2Earth asserts that its packaging materials can break down into compost that is free from toxins and microplastics.
The Zurich-based investor Sagana also participated in the funding round of the startup.
In a statement, Sagana said the funds would allow Pack2Earth to “complete client pilot projects and start to grow revenues”.
It added, “The advanced biomaterials startup has developed robust food-grade materials that compost quickly at ambient temperature whenever they end their lifecycle. This also helps reduce the use of petroleum-based plastics.”
Mondelez aims to have all its packaging “designed to be recyclable” by 2025. In the 2022 ESG report of the Milka chocolate maker, the company indicated that 96% of its packaging met this criterion.
The group has established a goal of reducing its consumption of virgin plastic by 5% by the same year compared to the procurement level in 2020. It also aims to decrease its utilization of “virgin rigid plastic” by 25% by 2025. Additionally, Mondelez aims for its packaging to incorporate 5% recycled content by the same year.
In the 2022 ESG report of the Milka chocolate maker, the company reported a 7% decrease in the amount of virgin rigid plastic compared to 2020 levels. However, its utilization of virgin plastic increased by 1.5% following a 4% reduction in 2021.
Regarding the goal for recycled content, Mondelez stated that it had achieved 1%.
Other investments made by the company through Sustainable Futures include the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund, which aids in the development of recycling infrastructure in India and Southeast Asia.
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