Pringles, Tesco Test Recyclable Paper Can

By Kristen Zanoni | September 18, 2020

Category: Consumer Goods

A variety of Pringles cans - recyclable Pringles can

Pringles owner Kellogg and partner Tesco are trialling new easy-to-recycle cans after decades of manufacturing tubes that are impossible to recycle.

The former Pringles can has been a recycling nightmare due to being made from multiple materials, according to Foodbev Media. The Pringles can is currently made from paper board, foil, metal and plastic, making it nearly impossible to recycle at home.

Now, the famous tube-shaped Pringles can will be made from recycled paper.

The new recyclable Pringles can will be tested with two different lids; one is made from plastic, and the other paper, Foodbev Media reported. The new recyclable Pringles can trial began 9 September in only a few Tesco stores in East Anglia, according to Kellogg. If the recycled Pringles can trial is a success, the new paper tube will be available all across Europe.

Kellogg has committed itself to ensure 100% of its products are packaged with recyclable, reusable or compostable materials by the end of 2025. The new Pringles can is part of that initiative, and it has taken nearly a year to make.

“We are eager to play our part and reduce our impact on the planet. And Pringles fans expect that of us, too,” Pringles vice-president Miranda Prins said, according to FoodBev Media. “So, we’ve worked hard to come up with this new can which is widely recyclable and keeps our chips fresh and tasty and protects them from breaking up — which helps to reduce food waste.”

She added: “The important thing for us now is getting the trial up and running with Tesco and collecting all the data and consumer feedback. At this stage it is too early to say whether we’ll roll out this new paper tube, however, the information we collect will help us understand if people like it and if it works on the supermarket shelf and at home. This trial will help us create the Pringles can of the future.”

The Pringles has received a lot of criticism over being practically unrecyclable, the BBC reported. The Recycling Association has labelled the Pringles can “the number one recycling villain.”

The Pringles can has remained the same since its launch in the U.S. in 1967, according to the Independent. The new recyclable can has been designed to keep crisps as fresh as the former can did.

But experts assert the new recyclable Pringles can might not be a total solution.

The old can was made with multiple materials. The recyclable can is created with 90% paper, with the remaining 10% consisting of a plastic barrier that makes the inside of the can airtight, keeping the crisps dry and protected.

The lid, which is still being tested with two different materials, will still make the famous Pringles can “pop” that fans have come to expect.

“The Pringles tube has been a bastion of bad design from the recyclers’ point of view,” the Recycling Association’s Simon Ellin told the BBC. “This new version is an improvement, and we broadly welcome it. But, frankly, if they are going to stick to a plastic lid that’ll just add to problems with plastic pollution — people on picnics leave them behind and they find their way into streams and the sea. That plastic lid has got to go.”

Three million Pringles cans are manufactured daily in Europe alone. While the new recyclable Pringles cans might not seem like a big step towards improving environmental crises, there will be millions of tubes that can be recycled instead of thrown away.

Are you a Pringles fan? What do you think about the new recyclable can? Share your opinion in the comments.