Coors Light will soon phase out plastic packaging rings worldwide and instead opt for “fully recyclable and sustainably sourced cardboard wrappers” on its six-packs of beer, parent company Molson Coors Beverage Company announced Tuesday.
We’re chill about a lot of things, but single-use plastic isn’t one of them. So we’re eliminating plastic rings from our packaging, starting this year and finishing by 2025. Learn more https://t.co/MFZRydOI4N pic.twitter.com/8l4Z3vA1p3
— Coors Light (@CoorsLight) March 1, 2022
As part of the transition, Molson Coors plans to invest $85 million to upgrade its packaging machinery so that all of its brands distributed in North America will be available in cardboard by 2025, the announcement stated.
“We believe that buying beer shouldn’t mean buying plastic,” Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for the Coors family of brands, said in a statement. “That’s why we’re taking a step toward making packaging even more sustainable, and with this achievement Coors Light will save 400,000 pounds of single-use plastic from becoming waste every year.”
If the beverage giant can transition all its brands in U.S., Canada, and Latin America by 2025, it expects to save 1.7 million pounds of plastic waste per year, the statement said.
The move builds upon previous efforts to achieve sustainability goals the company set in 2017, which include packaging exclusively in materials that are 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable. In 2021, Molson Coors discontinued plastic rings on all its major brands sold in the U.K. Additionally, the company introduced “more sustainable plastic rings” to its brands distributed in Canada. In Tuesday’s announcement, Molson Coors pledged to discontinue plastic in Canada altogether.
Molson Coors is just one beverage giant acting on commitments to sustainability. Last August, Anheuser-Busch began an $18 million upgrade at its Fort Collins facility to upgrade brewing and packaging operations in hopes of making them more efficient and reducing its overall environmental impact.
To celebrate the changes, Coors Light is erecting a pop-up “Plastic-Free Future Mart” in Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday through Sunday, March 6 for patrons 21 year old and up to visit.