Paper vs Plastic Wrappers:  Which Chocolate Brands Have Made the Switch?

Have you ever wondered what rubbish is floating in our Harbours? At Seabin one of the largest growing categories of waste collecting is soft plastic, including, food wrappers due to their lightweight, non-biodegradable stature; these are a major threat to our oceans and marine life as they continue to break down into microplastics polluting the food-chain and waterways. Some familiar names like Nestle, Mars and Cadbury are three of the major brands of chocolate wrappers often found in different catches retrieved from Seabin’s. According to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, Australians go through approximately 80 billion pieces of soft plastics annually. The issue is that only a small percent of this waste is recycled with 93% ending up in landfill. 

Who’s leading the way? 

While a few of these big names like Nestle and Cadbury have begun to make changes like introducing recycled plastic into their packaging, it’s not a solution to this growing issue surrounding plastic consumption and waste. However, the major game changers are those who are making the switch and creating lines that are plastic-free, for example Coles Own brand and Tony’s Chocolonely.  

Coles Own Brand 

Since their initiative in 2021 to reduce plastic in their brand lines Coles was able to remove more than 500 million pieces of plastic from their products. In October 2023, Coles Own brand chocolate packaging transitioned from plastic to recyclable paper, this action alone removed 1.5 million plastic wrappers from circulation 

Answering the concerns of their consumers 

Coles listened to the concerns of their customers regarding the eco-friendlier shift they were searching for and issues with misleading labelling or difficulty in understanding how to recycle certain packages. Their solution was adding the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) to the artwork and packaging of all their Own brand products, which helps customers understand where and how to dispose of different elements of packaging (Coles, 2024).  

Coles and Planet Ark 

In 2024, Coles partnered with the not-for-profit organisation Planet Ark to implement sustainable practices in terms of their manufacturing and production and educate their customers on how they can make better choices too. For example, their most recent campaign with Planet Ark was launched in November 2024 which focused on ways to reduce and remove plastic waste in the Christmas season. A suggestion moving forward could be using this same idea and transforming it into a plastic and waste-free Easter Campaign. 

Tony’s Chocolonely 

Tony’s Chocoloney is a Dutch chocolate brand who are dedicated to reducing the slave trade within the chocolate industry and making it 100% slave free. They’ve also been leading the chocolate industry in terms of sustainability after they began a mission to remove all plastic from their products where possible in 2020, in hopes they could reduce their plastic waste by approximately 10 tonnes per year. (Tony’s Chocolonely). 

What do consumers demand from manufacturers? 

Nowadays consumers expect more from companies, especially in areas regarding sustainability, Tony’s Chocolonely understands these needs and adopted scientifically advanced packaging technology into their products in 2021 to reduce their plastic waste. In their popular line “Tiny Toes” which features a bag of 20 individually wrapped chocolates, they needed to find paper-based packaging that would be durable and suitable to withstand different weather conditions and shelf lives. 

To achieve their goal Tony’s Chocolonely partnered with Sappi, using their Guard Nature MS paper-based pouches for all the packaging within this range. These heat-sealable MS pouches offer a plastic-free alternative to traditional multi-layer-based barrier films, protecting the chocolate while still maintaining long shelf life and the ability to withstand different temperatures and conditions. 

Why Recycling Plastic doesn’t Solve the problem only delays it

While it may seem as though recycling plastic that is labelled as is doing the right thing unfortunately due to the low rates of plastic that is recycled, the majority still ends up in landfill. In Australia, plastic pollution specifically in our waterways and oceans is one of the most pressing environmental issues, annually Australian plastic waste has accumulated to 2.5 million tonnes, with a low recycling rate. With just 14% of plastic being recycled and kept out of landfills, reliance on “recyclable plastic material” isn’t inflicting a large impact on reducing the mass of plastic waste in Australia, it is simply delaying it. 

Greenwashing; The Issues With the “Green Mask”

With the rising concern for our planet and the major cultural and societal shift in the value many people place on living ethically and sustainably, brands are being called to implement eco-friendly practices. While some have devoted time and money to being transparent and truthful in their changes, others often mislead customers with false claims of how “green” they or their products are to appeal to this sector of conscious consumers. 

Thus, the term “greenwashing” was developed, Greenwashing is a PR and marketing tactic used by organisations to make it seem as though they are “sustainable” or utilising “sustainable” environmentally friendly methods, despite it being false. Greenwashing can be seen in different ways, it can be using green colour schemes in their marketing and advertising such as green posters or falsely advertised labelling, uncertified claims or the removal of certain practices from their outlined manufacturing process. 

An example of greenwashing with chocolate bars is Mars’ ‘paper’ packaging. The company states they have switched to “Paper-based packaging” and say that is now ‘your turn’ placing the responsibility of the consumer to recycle the end product… When you read the fine print the material is 86% paper but still has a plastic lining… This type of marketing is concerning as this product is actually not able to be recycled in New Zealand due to the amount of plastic mixed in with paper and leaves consumers confused.

Wrap it in Paper Not Plastic. 

While yes, it is great to recycle and repurpose plastic, the more it is broken down into something new the quality degrades over time until it’s unable to be formed into a new object, simply delaying its inevitable return to landfill. 

As plastic isn’t biodegradable once it starts to degrade it breaks down into microplastics. Synthetic polymers such as polystyrene, polyester, acrylic, polypropylene and polyethylene, are some of the most common microplastics found in marine environments. Microplastics are extremely harmful to the environment as they contaminate the food chain, and waterways and pose a massive threat to the wellbeing of marine life and humans.  

The Journey of Your Chocolate Wrapper 

Most chocolate wrappers are made of soft plastics, often made from propylene and therefore cannot be recycled, continuing the cycle of producing microplastics as they continue to break down over time. 

In comparison when you consider the end-of-life cycle of paper wrappers and packaging these have a much less harmful impact on the environment than those made of plastic. Paper-based chocolate wrappers like the ones from Coles Own Brand or Tony’s Chocolonely Tiny Tony’s, are biodegradable, can be recycled, are non-toxic and don’t break down into microplastics. Paper has a much longer lifecycle and can be recycled into different things; wrappers are 100% paper and can even be used for composting and soil enrichment. 

How Can You Make a Change ? 

• Research some of your favourite chocolate brands and learn about whether or not they are making sustainable packaging choices. 

• Make the switch to paper-wrapped chocolate, many brands are now making the switch. 

• Check the legitimacy of brands that are claiming to be Eco-certified before purchasing.  

REFERENCES  

Anderson, L. and Gbor, N. (2024). Plastic waste in Australia. [online] The Australia Institute. Available at: https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/plastic-waste-in-australia/. 

APCO (2024). ApcoWeb. [online] apco.org.au. Available at: https://apco.org.au/. 

Australian Government (2020). Australian Plastic Flows and Fates Study 2020-21 National Report – DCCEEW. [online] Dcceew.gov.au. Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/publications/australian-plastic-flows-and-fates-report-2020-21. 

Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (2022). Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation – DCCEEW. [online] Dcceew.gov.au. Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/packaging/packaging-covenant. 

Coles (2023). Coles. [online] Coles. Available at: https://www.coles.com.au/about/our-partners/community/partnerships/planet-ark?srsltid=AfmBOoohcvHk-YuUYVxBSt7MALh19lGRtZzf7R0JWlopfQdw9NPEy9lz [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025]. 

Coles (2024). How to Reduce Waste | Coles. [online] Coles. Available at: https://www.coles.com.au/recipes-inspiration/home-ideas/how-to-reduce-waste  

Dumas, D. (2024). REDcycle’s collapse and the hard truths on recycling soft plastics in Australia. The Guardian. [online] 29 Jan. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/30/redcycles-collapse-and-the-hard-truths-on-recycling-soft-plastics-in-australia. 

Label and Labelling (2021). Tiny Tony’s in Sappi’s sustainable packaging | Labels & Labeling. [online] www.labelsandlabeling.com. Available at: https://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/sustainability/tiny-tonys-sappis-sustainable-packaging. 

Lindwall, C. (2023). What Is Greenwashing? [online] Natural Resources Defense Council. Available at: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-greenwashing. 

Lopes, J. M., Gomes, S., & Trancoso, T. (2023). The Dark Side of Green Marketing: How Greenwashing Affects Circular Consumption? Sustainability, 15(15), 11649-. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511649  

National Geographic Society (2022). Microplastics | National Geographic Society. [online] education.nationalgeographic.org. Available at: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/microplastics/. 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2024). What are microplastics? [online] Noaa.gov. Available at: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html. 

Poole, J. (2021). Sappi equips Tony’s Chocolonely with recyclable paper-based doypack in stand-up secondary solution. [online] .packaginginsights.com/. Available at: https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/sappi-equips-tonys-chocolonely-with-recyclable-paper-based-doypack-in-stand-up-secondary-solution.html. 

Sappi Europe (2020). Sweet sensations in sustainable packaging | Sappi PSP. [online] Sappi PSP. Available at: https://www.sappi-psp.com/insights/innovation/sweet-sensations-in-sustainable-packaging. 

Seabin Foundation. (2024). Ocean Health Online Course – Seabin Foundation. [online] Available at: https://seabinfoundation.org/appeal/seabin-online-education-program/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2025]. 

United Nations Environment Programme (2022). Beat Plastic Pollution. [online] UN environment programme. Available at: https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/. 

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