Heineken UK is now tackling the problem presented by all those plastic rings connecting their bottles of beer by ditching them for a more environmentally friendly cardboard topper to hold those cans together.
Heineken UK today announced the Green Grip, its new cardboard packaging that is 100 percent plastic free. It will first be used by brewer on Heineken, Foster’s and Kronenbourg 1664 multi-packs before being rolled out across the company’s entire line of beverages.
Heineken says that between the Green Grip and the removal of shrink wrapping on consumer packs, the company will eliminate more than 517 tons of plastic annually.
Plastic waste has been a big problem for us and our planet, with more than 8 million metric tons entering our oceans every year. Then along came the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated our plastic problem as people go through millions disposable gloves, and, more relevant to Spoon readers, single-use restaurant takeout containers.
Heineken UK isn’t the only beer company looking to get rid of the plastic rings on its multi-packs. A couple years back, Carlsberg started gluing cans of its brew together into a Snap Pack instead of using the plastic rings. And last year Coca-Cola and AB InBev announced plans to use the KeelClip paper-based multi-pack topper to be rolled out across Europe this year.
Admittedly, these are small changes, but if enough companies can follow suit, these small changes to the way we carry a six-pack into our next party (whenever those are allowed again), could make a really big impact on our planet.
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