Popular beer company Heineken has announced that it will stop using plastic rings to hold together their packs of beer cans. The company will begin in the United Kingdom, where the company has invested millions in equipment that now manufactures cardboard stocks that will hold multipacks of beer together.
The announcement was met with enthusiasm and support, as you can see below.
These plastic rings are called yokes or hi-cones in the beer and soda industry. They may seem harmless, but they have a serious environmental impact – particularly on ocean life.
The Guardian reports that these new cardboard rings will reduce plastic consumption in the UK by a whopping 517 tons by the end of 2021.
Heineken, Kronenbourg 1664, and Foster’s will be the first Heineken-owned brands available with the new compostable cardboard rings. All plastic multipacks will be phased out for other Heineken-owned brands, such as Red Stripe, Bulmer’s, John Smiths, and Strongbow, by 2021.
Heineken joins other beer brands that have committed to cutting down single-use plastic six-pack rings, such as Guinness, Budweiser, and Smithwick’s.
Other brands have been experimenting with different methods to reduce their use of single-use plastic for beer packs, such as Carlsberg, which announced that it will soon start using recyclable glue.
All in all, Heineken is joining many UK-based companies that are looking for ways to help save the planet. Let’s hope their ideas catch on!
Have you heard of other innovative ways corporations are trying to cut down plastic use? Give them a shoutout in the comments!
