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Maintaining quality and safety while delivering deliciousness and achieving zero plastic waste to reduce environmental burden is a challenge. Learn about the issues around plastic waste and improvements being made to the plastic packaging of mayonnaise to enhance recyclability to help achieve greater sustainability goals.

Characterized by its rich flavor and mild acidity, Pure Select® Mayonnaise is made from simple ingredients: eggs, vinegar, and oil. Special Pure Select® Vinegar is a blend of white grape vinegar, brown rice vinegar, and malt vinegar aged in wooden barrels. It is mixed with high-quality canola oil, corn oil, and soybean oil. Mixed with these fine ingredients, fresh eggs are transformed into Pure Select® Mayonnaise.

Since its introduction in 1996, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Group’s Pure Select® Mayonnaise has been delivering great taste to tables. Meanwhile, both the taste and the container have been subtly evolving in ways that many might not notice. The mayonnaise container is one example, as it has been designed to be more easily recyclable.

Generally, plastic materials are very convenient for packaging due to their ease of molding and lightness. Each type of plastic material has different functions, so in order to fulfill all the functions required for packaging it is common to combine multiple types of plastic. Mayonnaise can lose its fresh-made flavor if exposed to oxygen in the air. To prevent this and maintain its quality, the containers are made with a barrier layer that prevents oxygen infiltration, combined with polyethylene material.

From a recycling perspective, a higher proportion of polyethylene is preferable. So the polyethylene content in Pure Select® Mayonnaise containers has been gradually increased. But changing packaging material on a full scale is no small task. When the materials used to make the containers change, even a tiny difference of a fraction of a millimeter can result. Even such a minute difference can cause issues in the container inspection process on the mayonnaise packaging line. To facilitate the use of more easily recyclable packaging materials, the packaging site undergoes daily trials and adjustments of the equipment.

We believe that collaboration with various stakeholders across the value chain, including companies (NGOs) and local governments, is essential in realizing social recycling of plastics.

As part of the effort to reduce plastic waste, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Group is participating as a founding member of the Japan Clean Ocean Material Alliance (CLOMA), a platform for accelerating innovation by strengthening cross-sector cooperation across a wide range of stakeholders and industries, taking a major role in activities that include proof-of-concept tests for large-scale waste collection methods. In 2024, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Co., Inc. launched a pilot project for the closed-loop recycling of used mayonnaise containers in cooperation with various companies and local governments. The company is developing recycling technology while gaining a greater understanding of the practical issues involved in post-consumer recycling, which is an important step to implement social recycling of plastics.

In collaboration with multiple private and public partners, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Group is contributing to the reduction of environmental impact, enhancing the recyclability of packaging materials, and helping build a more sustainable society. The Group is working to support and contribute to measures for social implementation of collection, sorting, and recycling where our products are manufactured and sold.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Group is also undertaking various initiatives through partnerships to realize zero plastic waste around the world. For example, in the Philippines, store owners are being offered the chance to earn environmental points for correctly sorting plastic packaging collected from customers. In Indonesia, a public-private partnership is helping address the problem of recycling laminated plastic wastes, offering local residents who help with the recycling effort credits that can be converted to digital money. And in. Brazil, the Group has initiated a collaboration to leverage reverse logisistics to reduce plastic use throughout the product lifecycle, from production to post-consumer use.

Innovative Recycling System to Work Together with Local Communities in Philippines 

The Road to zero plastic waste: Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Indonesia succeeds through private-public partnership

Joining hands with all stakeholders, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Group will continue its efforts to reduce environmental impact while delivering delicious products, enhancing the well-being of people and the planet.