Coors Light Phases Out Single-Use Plastic Rings For 100% Recyclable Carriers

Photo 236680049 © Chon Kit Leong | Dreamstime.com

Starting later this year, Coors Light will be plastic ring-free globally, keeping the pesky packing component out of oceans. In place of the rings, it is instead choosing cardboard wrap carriers to hold its six-packs.

The packaging is constructed from 100% recyclable materials that are sustainably sourced. It’s the most significant decision that the beer brand has made for eco impact since the 1950s, when Coors became the first in the market to introduce recyclable aluminum cans.

Image via Molson Coors Beverage Company / Businesswire

Coors Light’s parent company has committed US$85 million into revamping the packaging machinery for all of its 30-odd brands in North America, which include Blue Moon and Miller Lite. It plans to wrap its entire portfolio in fully recyclable, sustainably-sourced cardboard packaging by 2025.

Coors Light will be the first to make the transition as it is the largest brand under Molson Coors’ name, the conglomerate points out.

“We believe that buying beer shouldn’t mean buying plastic,” explains Marcelo Pascoa, Vice President of Marketing for the Coors Family of Brands, in a press release.

Video screenshot via Coors Light

Molson Coors’ CEO Gavin Hattersley estimates that when all of its brands adopt the redesigned holders, they’ll cut down single-use plastic consumption by 1.7 million pounds annually, of which 400,000 pounds will be accounted for by Coors Light. Already, some of the company’s beermakers in the UK have moved on to using cardboard packaging.

To showcase the new Coors Light holders, the brand has temporarily opened a ‘Future Mart’ in Brooklyn, where the packaging is stocked alongside imaginary Coors Light-branded food products like cereal and pancake mix. The popup itself, which runs through March 6, is built with fully recyclable materials, including brewery leftovers.

[via CNN, The Hill, Marketing Dive, images via various sources]