The company produces consumer goods by repurposing surplus and used packaging from more than 20 Mars brands including SNICKERS®, M&M’S® and SKITTLES®.

Waste packaging is turned into products like recycling bins, park benches and garden fencing — while surplus unused packaging is “upcycled” into products like cell phone holders, laptop sleeves and messenger bags. The products are sold through retailers, such as Walmart, Target and Petco, with royalty paid to Mars on the sale of all branded goods.

In the U.S., Mars is the founding sponsor of TerraCycle’s Candy Wrapper Brigade, which collects millions of used wrappers that would otherwise end up in landfill. The program stimulates sustainable behavior by encouraging consumers to send their used Mars packaging to TerraCycle for reprocessing. In turn, Mars pays two cents to a school or nonprofit organization of the sender’s choice for every package received. More than $19,000 has been paid since the program’s founding.

"It is great to see Mars taking active responsibility for packaging sustainability by providing a program for consumers to recycle candy wrappers. To date more one million candy wrappers and nearly six million FLAVIA® Freshpacks have been diverted from landfills in the U.S., with collections growing by the month." Tom Szaky, Terracycle