Uncle Ben's Reduces Glass Packaging

Uncle Ben's UK division owned by Mars has recently launched a new glass bottle for its sauces.  The launch of the bottles follow a trial testing period and are supported by the Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP) which is a UK government supported program focusing on the reduction of waste.

Published reports indicate Mars was able to reduce the weight of Uncle Ben's sauce jars by 6% which will save 450 tons of glass per year or 1,215 tons of CO2 emissions.

After initial testing and trials working with glass manufacturer, Ardagh Glass in The Netherlands, Mars set out to reduce the weight of its 258g ambient sauce jar.

Frieda Sporen, Mars’ packaging innovations manager, said: “This project, which saw close co-operation between our factory and our glass manufacturer, managed to reduce the weight of the jar to 243g.

“Crucially, the new jar can be manufactured smoothly on our existing production lines. It has meant the creation of new molds by our glass supplier and involved the slight increase in the diameter of the label recess area to create a smoother design, coupled with a slight reduction in the height of the jar. Together these innovations have delivered the lighter jar.”

Production of 30 million jars a year of Uncle Ben’s sauces will now switch to the new lightweight jar at the Mars factory in the Netherlands.

Mars recent achievement with its Uncle Ben’s sauce jar follows similar success in the reduction of the weight of its 500g Dolmio sauce jar last year.