Packaging: Innovation & Sourcing

The Wrigley Company produces 21 brands and thousands of SKUs. That degree of variety certainly pleases the consumer, but also creates somewhat of a puzzle for configuring a platform of best-practice sustainability methods in the packaging category. It's a challenge that Wrigley is dedicated to conquering - and one that's vitally important because product packaging is such a high-profile component of consumer satisfaction.

Bottle Packs

The bottle pack is a hallmark example of sustainable packaging created to date. First introduced in the China marketplace about four years ago, the packaging was more durable and more sustainable. Compared to blister packages, it uses about 20 percent less packaging materials in weight per piece, which creates an overall reduction of over 2,500 tons of packaging materials per year. Moreover, the bottle is recyclable, and last year, the bottle was re-engineered to become even lighter. An innovative approach incorporating talc as a "filler" decreased the amount of plastic used by 50 percent and the overall bottle weight by over 25 percent, while still maintaining the integrity of the package. In Europe and Asia, popular gum products are also available in refill bags, further reducing packaging by allowing consumers to refill and reuse their original bottle packaging.

What's next

We are working on our 2009 and 2012 goals in the areas of materials reduction and recycling usage. We are also investigating more sustainable materials.