UK-based food manufacturer Walkers is investigating how to transform old potato peelings into crisp packets as a part of its latest drive to deliver more environmentally sustainable packaging.
The PepsiCo-owned firm has been looking at a number of ways to make more environmentally friendly packets for crisps as part of the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label initiative, and claims to have already cut the carbon footprint of one of its standard bag of crisps by 7%.
Now the company is looking at extracting starch from potato skins and turning it into packaging.
PepsiCo UK and Ireland president Richard Evans said that they could use the peelings that have been going to animal feed and other recycling uses, to be turned into crisp packets.
He said packets made out of peelings could be used for some of Walkers smaller brands within 18 months.
According to the Carbon Trust, a cheese and onion Walkers crisp bag has a carbon footprint of 80g, 34% of which is related to packaging.
The company said it is still looking to reduce its environmental impact and that it could soon introduce an alternative biodegradable crisp packet.