Nestlé Has Created a Recyclable Snack Bar Wrapper

With the effects of climate change getting more dire by the decade, the pressure is on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in any way that we can. One of the easiest ways for consumers to take action is by recycling. Nestlé is the latest corporation to do its part in making that task a little easier: It recently announced that it will start packaging its line of YES! snack bars in a recyclable paper wrapper, Food & Wine reports.

Since Nestlé’s high-speed production lines mainly package products with plastic or thick laminate materials, the UK masterminds behind this new wrapper had to first create a paper that was sturdy enough to survive the packaging process, and then alter the machinery to function with a gentler touch. To highlight this change, the YES! bar wrappers include a line that says “carefully wrapped in paper,” according to Confectionery News. The developers also tested the new wrappers extensively to ensure that they would keep the bars in perfect condition through shipping and storage. The paper itself is sourced from sustainable forests that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.

If you haven’t seen a YES! bar before, it might be because you live in the U.S. These Nestlé treats are currently available only in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

But Nestlé’s commitment to recycling reaches a brand you probably have seen in the U.S.: Poland Spring. Just last month, Food & Wine reported that Nestlé (which owns Poland Spring, as well as a whole slew of other popular brands you may not have realized) was making a shift to using recycled plastic for its Poland Spring bottles, and hopes to be using 100 percent recycled plastic for all of its still water bottles by 2022.

Nestlé isn’t the only corporation to make headlines lately with its environmentally friendly packaging innovations. Just a few weeks ago, Corona announced its plans for stackable beer cans, eliminating the need for those pesky plastic rings that can prove fatal to unsuspecting ocean-dwellers like turtles.

And, because recycling isn’t all about food and drink containers, here are 25 surprising things you didn’t know you could recycle.