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Press release -

MONDELĒZ INTERNATIONAL MEETS ITS GLOBAL VIRGIN PLASTIC REDUCTION GOAL IN EUROPE AND ANNOUNCES AN ADDITIONAL ~1,000-TON REDUCTION OF VIRGIN PLASTIC IN 2025

Zurich, March 17th, 2026 – As part of its packaging transformation journey in Europe, Mondelēz International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) announced today two key milestones:

  • Europe achieving its company’s global goal of 5% recycled content (compared to 2020).
  • Completing transition from rigid plastic trays to trays containing ~80% recycled plastic1 across several European flagship brands. This shift enables an annual reduction of ~1,000 tons of virgin plastic2 across Europe.

    “We are proud of these milestones, as we continue accelerating our sustainable packaging journey across Europe” said Catherine Burgeat, Sustainability Senior Director of Europe at Mondelēz International. “Replacing PET plastic trays with rPET is a major step towards reducing our virgin plastic usage and contributing to a more circular packaging economy.”

    These achievements reflect Mondelēz International’s drive to scale recyclable materials and pilot innovative circularity solutions across major European markets — including the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland — demonstrating the company’s ability to deploy packaging improvements at scale.

    To continue reducing the use of virgin plastic, Mondelēz International is strategically investing in diverse recycling technologies and circularity initiatives across Europe to achieve its ambitious packaging sustainability goals.

    Advancing Innovation Through Complementary Recycling Technologies

    Mondelēz International is advancing innovation through complementary recycling technologies throughout Europe:

    • Mechanical recycling: This process involves collecting, cleaning, and reprocessing used plastics into new packaging materials. It enabled the company to incorporate ~1,000 tons of rPET into trays in 2025, for selected boxed chocolates (Milka, Marabou, Mirabelle and Suchard pralines) and biscuits products (Milka Choco Wafer, Chips Ahoy and Oreo). Milka Pralines are already leading the way, now using trays made with ~80% rPET and eliminating color to further enhance recyclability — a change soon to be rolled out across other brands. This covers many European markets such as the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
    • Chemical recycling3: This process breaks plastic down to molecular building blocks, enabling its reuse in food-contact packaging. Mondelēz International has been among the early adopters of this technology in Europe, with Cadbury Dairy Milk in the UK introducing ~30% chemically recycled content in 2022, followed by Kvikk Lunsj in the Nordics in 2024. Also, a broader adoption of ~80% recycled plastic for Cadbury tablet packaging has been rolled out in 2025.

    Piloting Circularity Across Europe

    In addition to reducing virgin plastic, Mondelēz International continues to invest in helping to advance in plastic packaging circularity pilot in Germany, Belgium, the Nordics and the UK. With a pilot initiative in Germany on Philadelphia tubs, the company helps advancing the collection and recycling of this packaging through our partnership with HolyGrail 2030, an industry initiative led by AIM (European Brands Association). By using digital watermarks, we aim to improve sorting accuracy and eventually unlock additional future sources of food-grade recycled plastic.

    “Innovation in both mechanical and chemical recycling technologies is essential to increasing the availability of food-grade recycled plasticsaid Richard Akkermans, Packaging Sustainability Manager Europe. “By working closely with suppliers and value-chain partners, we are turning sustainability ambition into practical action.”

    Supporting European Progress Toward a More Circular Packaging System

    Mondelēz International’s progress contributes to the broader transition towards more circular packaging systems in Europe and supports alignment with evolving European expectations on recyclability and recycled content.

    By prioritizing the use of recycled content and advancing innovation across multiple categories, the company aims to significantly reduce its virgin plastic usage and support a more sustainable future for the snacking sector.

    About Mondelēz International

    Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2025 net revenues of approximately $38.5 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, Ritz, LU, Clif Bar and Tate's Bake Shop biscuits and baked snacks, as well as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Dow Jones Best-in-Class North America and World Indices, formerly Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on X at x.com/MDLZ.

    Contact

    Marouane FERTAT
    media.france@mdlz.com
    +33 (0) 6 20 99 95 48

    [1] The plastic type is PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), commonly used in the plastic bottled drinks industry, and its recycled version is known as rPET).
    [2] Specifically attributable to recycled PET (rPET) initiatives in 2025.
    [3] The sourcing approach used by Mondelēz International for chemically recycled plastic content and used by many other companies for many other commodities around the world, is called mass balance. In the case of plastic packaging, mass balance refers to mixing recycled plastic with virgin plastic during the manufacturing of new plastics. While you can’t trace how much recycled plastic makes its way into the packaging of every product, you do know the total quantity used for production. Mondelēz International uses ISCC PLUS certified material, aligned to a set of sustainability standards. Mass balance is a great way to scale up sustainability. For more on mass balance and ISCC certification, please visit
    Mass Balance – ISCC System (iscc-system.org)

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    Om Mondelēz International

    Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) har som åtagande att ”Empower people to snack right” genom att i över 150 länder erbjuda: rätt snacks, till rätt ögonblick, gjorda på rätt sätt. Med en nettoomsättningen 2022 på cirka 31 miljarder dollar leder MDLZ framtiden inom snacking med ikoniska globala varumärken såsom Oreo, belVita, och LU kakor; Cadbury, Milka och Toblerone choklad, och Philadelphia färskost. I svenska produktportföljen finns välkända varumärken såsom Marabou, Daim, Aladdin och O'boy. Mondelēz International är en stolt medlem av Standard and Poor's 500, NASDAQ 100 och Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Besök https://www.mondelezinternational.com eller följ företaget på Twitter på https://twitter.com/MDLZ.

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