Sep29

origami and chocolate.

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it’s important we each do our part to help Mother Earth

and here is a way we can all pitch in,

with two of my favorite things on this earth,

paper and chocolate.

you are welcome.

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Japanese KitKats Are Replacing Plastic Packaging

with Origami Paper You Can Turn into Cranes!

From plant-based, bio-plastic Lego to Adidas’s first fully recyclable running shoe, companies worldwide are working hard to make their products and packaging more sustainable. Last year, food and drink manufacturer Nestle announced that it plans to use 100% recyclable packaging for its products by 2025. As part of that goal, nestle Japan recently released new packaging for its popular miniature KitKat chocolate bars, which will now be wrapped in origami paper instead of plastic.

“Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today,” Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider says “Tackling it requires a collective approach. We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use and recycle.” Japan is the biggest market for KitKats, with 4 million being sold every day. By swapping out the candy bar’s shiny plastic wrap for eco-friendly matte paper, Nestlé expects to cut down on roughly 380 tons of plastic each year.

The new packaging is not only good for the environment, but it’s fun too! Each KitKat bar will include instructions on how to fold a traditional origami crane—a symbol of hope and healing. Customers are encouraged to turn their trash into art, with the hope that the paper will remain in use for longer.

The environmentally-friendly packaging debuts with the most popular KitKat Mini flavors—original, matcha, and dark chocolate—but the positive change is just the beginning. Next year, Nestlé Japan plans to release paper bags for its normal-sized KitKat multipacks, and will roll out single-layer paper wrappers for individual KitKats in 2021.

“the visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.”

-malcolm gladwell

 

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credits: mymodernmet.com, atlas obscure, emma taggart, nestles japan

 

69 responses »

  9. I applaud the makers of Kit Kats for acknowledging the negative impact that packaging has on our world…not sure if I can applaud these “unique” flavors that Kit Kat has rolled out in Japan in the past: “Shrimp Kit Kats”…”Baked Potato Kit Kats”…I posted about them all if you dare: https://johnrieber.com/2014/03/05/shrimp-flavored-kit-kats-baked-potato-too-the-wildest-kit-kat-flavors-ever-plus-canned-pancake-soda/

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  13. totally agree – although we are def. all involved heavily in some ways of having ‘gone plastic’ for so long. It’s so convenient, practical, clean, etc…. as long as it gets burned at the end isn’t landing in the sea, and fishes’ stomachs, in the trees and shrubs and elsewhere. I’m NOT advocating Nestlé (au contraire!), but I finally succumbed to buying a Nespresso machine for the ‘occasional’ usage and, in Switzerland, they have installed a perfect system of circle and recycling. OK, the coffee pods are still made from alu and that alu is still eating away our stomachs, but you order and get your coffee the next day, you put all your used pods in a provided bag and put that one in your mail box, to be taken away for recycling the next morning, their PR is second to none (even though Clooney is no longer drinking Nespresso….)…. And don’t we all love to origami a bit every now and then?! They’re definitely on the right track and I’m looking forward to my ‘swans & airplanes’ while gorging on KitKats.

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  15. I really appreciate those intentions Beth and hope, this will spread all over our world.
    I read about Lego, which is Danish, that they try their best to change their materials to something more healthy for our environment and naturally also for the kids playing with it.

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  21. Good for Nestle’s. Unfortunately they’re still using child labor and conducting themselves in other reprehensible ways around the world. This bit is just PR, not good will. I wish it was. We’ve been boycotting them since the ’60s with the infant formula debacle. Good though to foster these discussions, Beth. I’m glad you brought them up. xo

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  22. A good reason to enjoy KitKats. I can see massive installations of paper cranes made from KitKat wrappers. I wonder where the first will go on display. Perhaps there will even be a Guinness Book of Records award for the largest. 🍫

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  27. KitKats used to be wrapped in foil and paper, both recyclable – I don’t know why they started using plastic in the first place! They are one of my long time favourite snacks. My father used to make us tiny animals using crushed up foil from cake and biscuit wrappers, so let’s hope parents will enjoy doing origami with their children.

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  32. What’s great about this is other companies are likely to follow suit. KitKat has never been my bar of choice, but I may have to make an exception based on the packaging alone. Do you know if the bars sell outside of Japan? Thank you for writing your post, Beth, as I had not heard about this.

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