Kellanova recently announced its commitment to use 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2030.

Shannon Moore is Director, Sustainable Packaging at Kellanova. We caught up with her recently to ask her about some of the things Kellanova is doing to reach this goal and continue to be an industry leader in sustainable packaging.

How is Kellanova leading the industry with sustainable packaging solutions?

SM: It starts with our Better Days Promise™ strategy to create better days for people and our planet. That is our guiding principle as we make decisions every day. In terms of packaging, we use a circular economy approach to minimize our overall impact from a material and carbon footprint standpoint.  A great example of this is our recent launch of a recyclable Pringles can in Europe. Kellanova is also a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur New Plastics Economy commitment, and we are driving collaborative efforts to rethink plastic use.

What is the Ellen MacArthur New Plastics Economy Global Commitment? What does it mean?

SM: It is a collaborative effort across many industries and companies to change how we use plastic packaging. As a signatory, we are focused on innovating differently and more sustainably when it comes to the design and use of our packaging – particularly to support the evolution of a circular economy.

What role does the food industry play in helping consumers understand what they can recycle and how?

SM: It's important to ensure consumers understand how to properly dispose of packaging. For that reason, we proudly include How 2 Recycle labels on our packaging. These labels provide instructions on what to do with the package and indicate whether it can be recycled. Labeling is just one approach in helping to reduce contamination in recycling and having more of our peers in the industry using these labels will increase the educational reach on how to recycle packaging. But even with labeling in place, we continue to evaluate ways to support and evolve consumer education on recycling, not only for our packaging but around recycling in general.

How does recycling fit into the overall goal of sustainable packaging? 

SM: Recycling is an important part of our strategy as we need to ensure that our packaging is designed to be compatible with recycling infrastructure across the globe and ultimately divert packaging material from landfill. Working towards these goals can also have additional benefits related to carbon emissions reduction, which is another focus area for us as a company. For Kellanova, sustainable packaging involves much more than just recyclability. Even though we continue to improve the recyclability of our packaging, we are always looking at ways to reduce packaging where possible, as well as ensuring we select materials that help reduce food waste by keeping our foods fresher for longer.

What are some of challenges to developing packaging that is innovative and sustainable? 

SM: Consumers want to enjoy the same, iconic food that they know and love – and we certainly want to make it for them. This is one of the key challenges we are working to address and balance alongside our sustainable packaging initiatives. We want to ensure that our packaging remains consumer centric and continues to deliver the same existing attributes but with added sustainability benefits. Our redesigned Pringles packaging in our European business is just one example of blending consumer expectations with sustainable packaging.

Learn more here about Kellanova’s Better Days Promise™ and how our company is progressing against its overall sustainable packaging goal to create better days for people and planet.

Working towards 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging

Nurturing the planet by reducing the amount of packing