Brewers Collective companions TerraCycle to launch new PPE programme
The Anheuser-Busch partnership promotes the proper recycling of personal protective equipment
Brewers Collective, the craft business unit of Anheuser-Buschannounced a national partnership with an innovative recycling company TerraCycle Promote the proper recycling of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Brewers Collective has installed TerraCycle Zero Waste boxes specifically for disposable masks and gloves in 18 craft breweries across the United States. Once the boxes are filled, they are returned to TerraCycle for recycling.
The collected PPE is cleaned, melted and processed into a raw material that can be used to make new products such as composite decks, patio furniture and reusable shipping pallets.
The decision to focus on PPE recycling resulted from the continued widespread public use of protective equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Johns Hopkins University estimated that the US was using an average of 45 million masks a day, most of which are not approved for traditional recycling bins. While PPE continues to be used, community streets, parks and beaches are littered with disposable gloves and masks, creating a dangerous risk of contamination.
“Sustainability has always been a central concern of our company and our partners in the craft brewery. The past year presented our industry as a whole with new and unique ecological challenges. By partnering with TerraCycle, we are solving the very time-critical problem of the safe recycling of our brewery PPE and at the same time creating a solution that supports the larger community, ”said Marcelo“ Mika ”Michaelis, President of Brewers Collective, Anheuser-Busch.
In addition to installing Zero Waste Boxes, select breweries will use local “Pints for PPE” efforts in their brewpubs to promote wider community awareness of the proper recycling of PPE. “Pints for PSA” offers refreshing incentives such as gift cards or goods for consumers who bring their used PPE to locally participating brewpubs. Details and timing of the local “Pints for PPE” events will be published on the social channels of the participating breweries.
“TerraCycle’s mission has always been to eliminate the idea of waste and provide solutions for items that seem difficult to recycle, such as disposable masks and gloves,” said Sue Kauffman, PR manager for North America at TerraCycle. “With the launch of this recycling initiative, Anheuser-Busch’s Brewers Collective is leading the industry by helping to combat the growing impact of PPE waste in local communities and help create a more sustainable world for future generations.”
This new partnership with TerraCycle expands Brewers Collective’s ongoing investments in the long-term health of our environment and communities, as well as Anheuser-Busch’s broader sustainability goals for 2025, which focus on renewable electricity and carbon reduction, smart agriculture, water management, and round packaging.
