A ‘Sweet’ Fight Against Single-Use Packaging!

Twycross Zoo has today announced it is to remove some single-use packaging from its shelves and stock sweets in compostable packaging – a first in the industry from confectionery manufacturer Calico Cottage.

From today, in partnership with Calico’s new brand The Cambridge Confectionery Company, Twycross Zoo in Atherstone, Warwickshire, will stock impulse bags of sweets which are wrapped in compostable and transparent packaging, which breaks down and disappears in soil.

Regular biodegradable bags can take decades to degrade and can leave a residue in the soil, according to Calico Cottage, which is based near Ely in Cambridgeshire.

Managing director Nigel Baker was inspired to make this game-changing move after watching BBC’s Blue Planet and being appalled by how much plastic ends up in the world’s oceans.

He said: “The move away from single use plastic is an issue that we started to address internally at Calico Cottage in 2017. We are hugely passionate about this and have been working long hours to come up with a solution using a range of technologies, and I am proud that we have brought it to market so quickly.

“We have developed a compostable bag combined with compostable labels and adhesives. We decided to take this step pro-actively, with a significant investment, rather than wait for our customers to ask for it.

“Having Twycross Zoo on board with us at launch is a massive boost and demonstrates our joint commitment towards moving away from single use packaging. This launch could really be a game-changer, so we are delighted to have them on board with us at launch.”

Karen Clarke, Director of Operations at Twycross Zoo said: “Sustainable and responsible resourcing is high on our agenda and as a conservation organisation we continually monitor and improve our use of packaging.

We are delighted to be one of the first organisations in the UK to work with Calico Cottage’s new compostable sweet bags and will continue to work with manufactures to source credible sustainable solutions to packaging.

Nigel Baker added: “The BBC footage about how much plastic ends up in the oceans really affected us all here and spurred us to do something about our packaging immediately. We are pleased to be leading the way in our industry and hope other retailers, like Twycross Zoo, join us in this revolution.

“It’s a first step for us and can eliminate around 80% of our single use plastic packaging but we won’t be satisfied until this number hits 100%, which is a huge challenge.”

This is just phase one of the roll-out for Calico, with the second due in April/May.

The new bags are fully certified and manufactured from sustainably sourced trees, which are converted into pulp and then a liquid cellulose solution. This is then made into a transparent solid film, which is coated and cut to size.