Recyclable wrappers on way for Mars bars

Confectionery giant Mars is planning new recyclable packaging for its chocolate bars. Mars, Snickers and Milky Way chocolate bars will have biodegradable brown paper packaging, designed to be more environmentally friendly, in Australia in April and New Zealand the following month. Mars said the wrappers on its chocolates would be able to be put in the recycling bin from June next year. Peter Simmons, the general manager of Mars New Zealand, said the new packaging comes after months of research and development in Mars Wrigley’s Ballarat manufacturing facility in Australia. The company said the change to paper-based packaging would reduce the amount of plastic that ended up in landfill by 11 tonnes – or more than 7 million wrappers – each year.