Update 2022: I actually bought and tried the new eco-friendly beer packaging! Have a look in the end of the article for full review + pictures. 🙂
What if I told you that some company already developed beer packaging that feeds animal creatures (if it happens to end up in the sea)?
Table of Contents
- You don’t believe it?
- Carlsberg Follow the Trend
- Update: The day I bought Carlsbergs’ eco-friendly beer packaging on Kastrup Airport Copenhagen
You don’t believe it?
Neither did I.
Until I saw this video of this innovate new environmentally friendly beer packaging that was developed and launched by Saltwater Brewery.
Have a look:
Fun facts:
– 50 % of the beer consumed in America actually comes from cans
– These six-pack rings do make up a serious threat to wildlife (especially ocean creatures)
– 1 million birds are trapped in plastic every year
Being innovative in the packaging space is costly. After all, plastic is a cheap and convenient material to use.
It will be very interesting to see whether or not people will actually pay slightly more in order to support Saltwater Brewery. After all, I do not believe that most people are willing to pay a lot more for eco-friendly options. Let’s hope I am wrong this time.
And then you would have people like me that would support Saltwater Brewery regardless of their beer quality – simply because they do something good for this planet.
Carlsberg Follow the Trend
Now, most people haven’t heard about Saltwater Brewery. Sorry if you guys ever read this article: but it´s true.
Frankly, I was unaware of this specific brewery prior to this innovative idea. However, most people have heard about Carlsberg. The Danish beer giant has been selling beer globally for more than four decades. They are also the first large multinational company to develop and use eco-friendly beer packaging to hold their cans together.
Carlsberg did not develop edible rings. They “only” developed a formula that would not hurt wildlife if it ended up in nature. This is what packaging innovation director for Carlsberg Group told fastcompany.com about their new “product”:
“We tested around 4,000 different types of glue before we settled on the final formulation.”
According to some newspaper articles, the new Carlsberg packaging has a texture that reminds people about chewing gum. Sounds wonderful.
Update: The day I bought Carlsbergs’ eco-friendly beer packaging on Kastrup Airport Copenhagen
As I have quite a large group of friends in Copenhagen, I try to visit them at least three times per year. I am a big fan of taking the bus between Oslo and Copenhagen, but I decided to try Scandinavian Airline System as they tickets were cheaper (!) than the bus.
Anyway, when I was flying back to Oslo I went to the taxfree section only to see what I have been dreaming of for so long: the eco-friendly, plastic-free beer packaging!
How did it feel like? Is it an improvement?
Let me first say this: thank you, Carlsberg! Thank you for eliminating the plastic. I will provide some bullet points as I think that would be the best way to give a full review:
– In the beginning I was a bit afraid that the glue was not strong enough. Holding onto a small plastic handle while all the beer is “hanging in the air” seems a bit risky.
– The glue is REALLY difficult to separate. I am a quite normal built guy in my end 20’s, and I struggled a bit to separate the beer. I can only imagine how much someone in their 70’s or 80’s must struggle.
– Once you have split the beer cans apart, there is no way you can “glue them together”.
– These are the pictures that I took during my experience. Please click on them to make them larger:
