The Australian division of frozen foods brand Birds Eye — the maker of such family favorites as Steamfresh Mixed Vegetables and Steamfresh Broccoli Florets — is looking to decrease the amount of harm caused by its plastic products.
To that end, the company has announced that three of its products will come in bags made out of 22% recycled plastic in the coming year, Packaging News reported.
"While we can only bring you 22 per cent in our Steamfresh 750g microwave bags for now, we have great ambitions to continue to increase our recycled content further across the Birds Eye range from 2026," Phoebe Dowling, head of sustainability at Simplot, the maker of Birds Eye products, told Packaging News.
The three products contained in the 22% recycled plastic microwavable bags will be available in Australian supermarkets starting in April.
"Our move … ensures Australians can now extend their eco-conscious purchasing behaviours to the freezer aisle," Katie Saunders, Birds Eye senior director of marketing, said.
According to a 2023 report from the nonprofit Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 65% of brands and retailers reduced their output of virgin plastic in their packaging from 2018 to 2023. However, the overall amount of virgin plastic used in food packaging still went up because of the activities of a few major companies such as The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo.
Even though Birds Eye will still use mostly virgin plastic to make its product packaging, reducing a fraction of its output represents a step in the right direction — especially if the company follows through with its promise of increasing the percentage of recycled plastic in the near future.
It also bears mentioning that microwaving plastic bags may not be as advisable as brands such as Birds Eye would have consumers believe. Researchers recently found that even plastic products approved by the Food and Drug Administration as microwave-safe released microplastics and nanoplastics into the foods they were holding when microwaved.
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