Cadbury's eco Easter egg unveiled

The new eggs will only be packaged in silver foil

Cadbury says it is cutting the amount of packaging it uses on its Easter eggs in a bid to become more eco-friendly.

The Birmingham firm has launched a new range of chocolate eggs wrapped only in foil without a cardboard box.

The company said it was using 75% less plastic and 65% less cardboard by not including a box.

Mike Webster, from the pressure group Waste Watch which campaigns against excessive packaging, welcomed the idea and said consumers should support it.

He added: "The more packaging they take off the better really but it's interesting to see what they've really done.

The firm is shedding its traditional Easter egg packaging

"They've kind of said to the consumer really - the ball is now in your court.

"Either choose the egg with the packaging or the egg without - and we'd really encourage people to vote with their feet and go for the egg without.

"The next step is really to consider the recyclability of the packaging they are using - for instance if they are using the foil it's really worth recycling foil because you save an awful lot of energy over making it from virgin products."

Cadbury claimed its move would reduce the amount of plastic it uses by 247 tonnes and cardboard by 115 tonnes, saving more than 2,000 trees as a result.

Jo Grice, the firm's Easter senior brand manager, said the move was part of the firm's pledge to reduce its environmental "footprint" by 50%.