Easter Chocolates And Biodegradable Packaging
This Easter with a few friends and family over for an Easter chocolate hunt we discussed the two main upmarket chocolates that are commonly found in supermarkets as these were purchased for special occasions like Easter. We all agreed that we thought that Lindt was a nicer tasting chocolate than Ferrero Rocher so it stood out on the eating front.
What was most surpring to us Bush Dudes was that once the friends and family had left and we were cleaning up the mess of chocolate packaging we found:
- That Ferrero Rocher plastic inner fills and outer packaging were not only substantial (overpackaged) but no parts were even recyclable. It all is destined for landfill!
- Whilst on the other hand Lindt suprised us that not only was their outer packaging cardboard and recyclable but the inner plastic trays are made from corn starch and compostable. This left only the individual chocolate wrappers which were actually part aluminium foil (and part plastic). Although in their current state the mixed plastic/aluminium foil chocolate wrappers are unrecyclable, hopefully Lindt can change to full aluminium foil chocolate wrapper and then they would have a completely recyclable product.
Composting Lindt chocolate corn starch tray in worm farm.
As we don’t buy these fancy overpackaged types of chocolate often. We were really surprised to see the Lindt brand had jumped so far in terms of sustainability. We logged onto the websites of both brands and Lindt stood out even further in terms of sustainability from Ferrero Rocher. Lindts level of detail they supplied on their website, outlining real data about sourcing and production of their products was far clearer than that provided by Ferrero Rocher with waffle type statements about their companies environmental commitments.
How we recycle small pieces of aluminium foil like chocolate foil wrappers…
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I am so glad to hear that Lindt has recycleable packaging as I would have hated to stop eating their lovely chocolate as it is definitely the best!
http://www.ethical.org.au/guide/browse/guide/?type=126
Thanks for this link. I have one of your books and use your site. The hardest thing about buying ethically is that it is difficult to find products that excel in all areas i.e. are local, use minimal & recyclable packaging, use ethical ingredients (animal welfare, no G.E. etc), are a reputable company etc etc etc. Great work on pulling together this information it is a really useful website. Bush Dudes!
We emptied our worm farm recently and this biodegradable packaging has completely disappeared. I only remembered that we had put this corn starch tray in there when I re-read this article so all good and 100% composted within about 1 year. 1 year is about how long it takes us to rotate the trays and move the compost into the garden, so good time frame for the whole composting cycle in a worm farm.