Mars Wrigley and Danimer Scientific to develop biodegradable packaging for confectionery portfolio

Mars Wrigley has announced a two-year partnership with Danimer Scientific to develop innovative home compostable packaging for a more sustainable planet.

Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable materials, will work with Mars Wrigley to leverage the company's global portfolio of iconic treats and snacks to enable consumers to compost at home, working together with consumers and supply-chain partners to support a healthy planet.

Mars Wrigley said the first brand under the new initiative will be Skittles in the US. The company added it will continue to evaluate opportunities to ‘scale this novel, innovative and sustainable packaging technology across its portfolio of brands and categories’.

Packaging sustainability strategy

For Mars Wrigley, collaborating with Danimer Scientific represents a step change for its packaging sustainability strategy and brings the business closer to its vision for a circular economy where no packaging becomes waste. As part of Mars, Incorporated's $1bn Sustainable in a Generation Plan to help create a healthier planet, Mars Wrigley is testing a range of material solutions in markets around the world, such as mono material and paper-based alternatives, to make incremental progress toward its goals.

"The impact of plastic on nature is one of the major sustainability challenges of our generation. There are no simple solutions and transformational innovation is necessary, we have to think and act differently​," said Alastair Child, Mars Wrigley VP of Global Sustainability. "Collaborating with Danimer to advance this breakthrough technology represents a major step to creating positive societal impact and better environmental outcomes across the full lifecycle of small, flexible packaging​."

Additional markets

Initial development work will kick off in North America with the goal of reaching additional markets with underdeveloped recycling infrastructures where littering and leakage into nature are especially problematic. Mars Wrigley's first on-the-shelf offerings are tentatively targeted for late 2021 or early 2022, featuring its Skittles brand in the US.