Baby Food Brand, Piccolo – Launches The UK’s FIRST EVER Fully-Recyclable Baby Food Pouch

The recyclability of food pouches is an issue which has long plagued the baby food category, and this new development from Piccolo, – marks a significant moment in the brand’s ethical journey.

Baby food brand, Piccolo, is once again – challenging the baby food industry with their BRAND NEW ‘Yellow + Go’ pouches.

Instead of waiting for the UK Government to update its recycling standards/policies, the brand has charged ahead, – and they’ve produced a pouch which is ready to be recycled, and they’ve partnered with ‘First Mile,’ – to ensure that parents can make more sustainable choices for their families, moving forward.

With other baby food brands expecting to implement these types of solutions by 2025, Piccolo has won the race against the status quo. Their new pouches are ready from this month onward(s) (April 2021).

Piccolo’s new food pouch is a mono-material. It’s fully recyclable, and it’s the first to be suitable for kerbside recycling. The brand aims to reach 100,000 recycled Piccolo pouches within a year. This responsible and innovative step means that Piccolo will be the first UK brand to launch a 100% recyclable baby food pouch, AND, the first in the UK suitable for kerbside recycling.

These pouches are also a first in the baby food market suitable for ‘closed-loop’ recycling, which is a design method that utilises one material (rather than the standard plastic and aluminium), meaning that they can be used time and time again, to make plastic more reusable than ever before.

Whilst existing pouches on the market may survive one more use, the plastic in these new pouches will NEVER need to be placed in landfill.

Piccolo has also partnered with recycling scheme, First Mile, – to ensure that all parents can recycle their Yellow + Go pouches from home, as the multi-pack box also doubles up as a returns box, with a QR code that allows parents to simply download the free returns label to put on the box, and send it to First Mile.

This is an effective system, because only 20% of local councils in the UK recycle plastic using the kerbside system.

The launch is an important move for the industry, which sells over 60 million non-recyclable pouches each year. It’s also backed by one of the UK’s most experienced sustainability practitioners, Jonathon Porritt, who said:

“Piccolo launching the UK’s first 100% recyclable baby food pouch shows its commitment to future generations at time where we’re facing a true climate emergency. We must act now to change, and I hope that this move will encourage other brands to follow suit.“

Piccolo’s Founder, Cat Gazzoli, added:

“This is a really complex issue because of the lack of infrastructure to support recycling systems in the UK. We’re not prepared to wait years until the wider problem is resolved, so we’re working with First Mile to find the solution now.“

Available in Boots, in-store – as part of their new eco-fixture (which champions sustainable products), the pouches are also available from Boots online, Ocado and Piccolo’s online store.

Find out more here.