Owing to the variety and wideness of its product range, the Morinaga Group uses packaging materials made of diversified materials. It also uses packing materials for the storage and transportation purposes.
We are promoting environmentally conscious initiatives for packaging materials that involve multifaceted issues such as plastic issues, deforestation, and climate change.
As one such initiative, we have newly established a long-term reduction target for the volume of plastic used in the packaging material of our mainstay product in Jelly. With efforts to meet this target as our reference point, we will pursue environmental conservation towards the establishment of a recycling society.
Reduce the plastics used in in Jelly products by 25%*1*2
*1 Scope: Amount of plastics used in packaging materials
*2 intensity; compared to FY2020/3; including replacement with biomass plastics
| Initiatives | Current initiatives (includes tentative items) |
|---|---|
| Reduce weight and volume of plastic | Reduce the amount of plastic used in the packaging of products including in Jelly and Choco Monaka Jumbo. |
| Switch to eco-friendly materials for packaging | Switch plastic package of HI-CHEW, in Jelly, and Morinaga Collagen Drink to biomass-derived plastic packaging. |
| Promote recycling | The in Jelly Recycling Program was launched in September 2021. |
In February 2020, we reduced the amount of plastics used in the “in Jelly” brand's packages by saving the weight of plastic cap and straw by approximately 9% (approximately 70 tons per year) compared to the conventional level. In addition, we partly replaced the printing ink used in the product with plant-derived, environmentally-friendly biomass ink. At the same time, we adopted easier-to-open caps to improve customer convenience.
Our product in Jelly has undergone four improvements to its cap since its launch in 1994. These improvements were realized through joint development with Hosokawa Yoko Co., Ltd., which has been supplying CHEER PACK®* since its release. Given that the larger the diameter of the cap, the easier it tends to be to open, it is difficult to increase size while reducing material usage. With that being the case, we have reduced the amount of plastic used, while improving the ease of opening caps, thereby improving customer usability and contributing to “health of environment.”
To further reduce plastic waste, Morinaga and TerraCycle Japan G.K. launched a recycling program to collect empty jelly drink containers in September 2021. The program works to collect used containers and recycle them into new plastic products as resources. We will continue to promote recycling initiatives for in Jelly as a leading jelly drink brand.
Since the start of this initiative, approximately 964kg of pouch-type jelly containers have been collected by September 2024. From the collected containers, we produced tongs using recycled materials with a 10% in Jelly cap blended into the grip portion.
The tongs are being donated to schools and facilities that have cooperated in setting up collection boxes. In addition, the tongs were used in the “Morinaga Presents in Jelly Enjoy Plogging” event, in which participants picked up trash while jogging, which was held at five locations across Japan from September to October 2024.
The collection box and students at Koriyama High School in Fukushima Prefecture
Donation of the tongs to Kokusai Gakuin High School
The in Jelly recycling program
Tongs with a grip made from 100% recycled materials,
including 10% caps from "in Jelly"
Plogging
We are looking for organizations to cooperate with us in this recycling program.
For inquiries regarding the installation of collection boxes,
please click here (Japanese only)