AB InBev declares its newest round packaging milestone
AB InBev's entire portfolio of beer brands will now be packaged in recycled cardboard, bringing the company closer to its 2025 sustainability goal
AB InBev has reached another exciting milestone in round packaging – the company's entire portfolio of legendary beers Budweiser Brewing Group UK & I. is now free of plastic rings.
That means doses of Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois and Becks The UK is now packaging alternatives such as fully recyclable packaging and the KeelClip, a new technology that uses recyclable cardboard to make packaging lighter.
Together with the reduction in the use of plastic shrink film by the company, 850 tons of plastic waste are saved annually, which corresponds to the weight of 67 double-decker buses.
This change brings Ab InBev one step closer to meeting its 2025 sustainability goal of having 100% of the company's products in packaging that is non-returnable or mostly made from recycled content.
Budweiser Brewing Group UK & I announced their ambition to become plastic-free for the first time in September 2019. After investing £ 6.3m in packaging infrastructure for breweries in South Wales and Lancashire, the company achieved its goal in just 13 months.
Paula Lindenberg, President of Budweiser Brewing Group UK & I, said of the initiative: “We couldn't have predicted the events of this year, but we were determined not to let this hinder our sustainability progress. For this reason, I believe that we have made it our goal to remove plastic rings and shrink film from our canned beer. Thanks to the hard work of our teams, there will not be a plastic ring on canned beer leaving our breweries in the UK today. "
To achieve this circular packaging goal, the breweries, which together produce more than 4,000 cans per minute, have upgraded three canning lines and are now fully equipped to produce alternatives to plastic rings, including the KeelClip, which recently won two awards at the prestigious Pro Carton / ECMA European Carton Excellence Awards 2020.
"We are very pleased that this future-oriented innovation, introduced in collaboration with Graphic Packaging, has been recognized at this level by Pro Carton, ECMA and the public," said Michaela Miedl, Director of Innovation and Technology at AB InBev – Europe. "KeelClip is a perfect example of premium innovation that supports sustainability and improves the customer experience."
