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9 best plastic-free Easter eggs that are easy to recycle
As little as just a third of the entire weight of the product was only chocolate

A shop-bought Easter egg is synonymous with a cardboard box and a huge plastic mould around the egg. And the bigger the egg, the more plastic it has.
Although, when customers started to question why the eggs came with so much packaging, brands defended the choice by saying it was for protection. But in reality, it is excessive use of single use plastic.
In 2018, it was reported that up to a third of the weight of some Easter eggs was just the packaging – both cardboard and plastic. Foil is of course recyclable, and is best done by cleaning it, if need be, and scrunching it in a ball, according to Recycle Now, the national recycling campaign for England.
This year, Asda announced that it is reducing 98 per cent of its plastic across its Extra Special Easter egg range – that’s equivalent to 16 tonnes.
Read more: Best Easter egg deals
It’s part of the supermarket’s commitment to “reduce, reuse and recycle” more, and hopes to make its own brand packaging 100 per cent recyclable before it’s target of 2025.
The brand has changed the shape of its eggs to better fit the cardboard box – which is recyclable – but hasn’t reduced the amount of chocolate, thank goodness, so it’s a win win for chocolate fans who want to be more eco.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
1Daylesford praline chocolate farm animals, 104g
This one’s not an egg shape, but we love these cute little spring-time animals, which include two white chocolate lambs, two milk chocolate bunnies and two marbled chocolate lambs in a little box full of make-shift straw, in entirely recyclable packaging. The praline chocolate has a hint of hazelnut, is ethically sourced from the Grenada Chocolate company and is wonderfully creamy and decadent. We assure you these won’t hang around for long.
2Montezuma milk chocolate Charlie chick with buttons, 100g
The brand claims to be the only chocolate company that’s managed to convert its entire range to sustainable packaging – which is either recyclable or biodegradable – as of February 2020. The smooth and creamy milk chocolate of this cheery chick-shaped egg is hard to stop eating, and we loved the large buttons that come with it, too. It’s also one of the only eggs not to include tinfoil.
3Divine seriously smooth milk chocolate Easter egg, 90g
With nothing but cardboard and tinfoil, this is a simply presented egg. As one of the smallest eggs on the list, the shell is fairly thin, but as it says on the tin: it is seriously smooth. Made with Fairtrade cocoa from Ghana, it’s also free from palm oil, and money from the sale supports Oxfam. Divine is also a B Corporation company, meaning it’s had to meet extremely high standards of sustainability. There are also two dark chocolate flavours: raspberry and pink Himalayan salt, too.
4Love Cocoa limited edition salted caramel Easter egg, 150g
Founded by James Cadbury in 2016, Love Cocoa’s egg has already sold out from most stockists – and we know why: it’s one of the best tasting eggs on the list. It didn’t hang around for long with us either. Coming in this lovely spring-coloured cardboard box – which we’re reusing to store pens – it’s made from 70 per cent organic cacao from Columbia, which has been fairly traded. The chocolate is handmade, has a hint of sea salt and is absolutely delicious.
5Tony’s Chocolonely mini egg carton
From the brand that’s trying to eradicate slavery from the chocolate supply chain – it has unequal squares on its chocolate bars to show the disproportionate money involved from grower to buyer – are these lovely brightly coloured mini eggs. The cardboard carton has spread seven flavours across the 12 eggs: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, nougat, hazelnut, caramel sea salt, almond sea salt and pretzel toffee. Our favourite is the almond sea salt. The eggs may be mini, but mighty in flavour.
6Chocolarder gorse flower, 185g
This egg comes in a seriously protective cardboard hexagon design – which we’re seeing more and more of – and shows how there’s absolutely no need for plastic to protect anything. It’s easy to remove and keep in tact to reuse too. This egg has the most unusual ingredient in our list: yellow gorse flower picked from hedgerows in Cornwall, which gives a lightly toasted coconutty flavour to the to 50 per cent milk chocolate. It’s delicate, delicious and innovative in packaging design as well as flavour.
7Cox & Co 61% Colombian cacao bee pollen and honey Easter egg, 170g
Born from the idea of making chocolate as ethical and sustainable as possible, all the chocolate from this brand – which was set up by Gavin Cox who grew up in South America – comes from the Casa Luker estate in Colombia. The estate’s supply chain is traceable and it invests not only in its farmers and environmental farming methods, but the communities too. The egg combines bee pollen with honey, which gives the dark chocolate a little sweetness. It’s grown up and pretty innovative. The packaging is fully biodegradable cardboard that uses vegetable based inks and all the illustrations are drawn by Gavin’s mum, Dawn.
The verdict: Plastic-free Easter egg
The Asda extra special orange chocolate egg wins our best buy, not only for it’s great taste and design, but it’s also the best value and has the most chocolate – which is obviously key for all us chocoholics.
We also loved the Love Coca salted caramel egg, for it’s delicate, moreish flavour. Chocolader’s innovative packaging is the best we’ve seen, and we also loved it’s ingenious use of flavour.