Featured image for Corona To Trial A Plastic-Free Six-Pack Ring

Corona To Trial A Plastic-Free Six-Pack Ring

by Bill McCool on 12/04/2018 | 2 Minute Read

While we’ve been busy losing our shit—and rightfully so—over Carlsberg ditching the six-pack ring and gluing cans together with their Snap Back Technology, it’s been gnawing away at us that they still managed to incorporate a plastic handle into the packaging design.

Well, this past week we discovered that Corona has quietly been at work advancing sustainable solutions to plastic waste.

As part of their alliance with Parley for the Oceans, a nonprofit that raises awareness for the oceans, Corona has developed a plastic-free six-pack ring for their canned offerings. Made from plant-based biodegradable fibers and combination of compostable materials and by-product waste, if left to its own devices in the environment, the six-pack ring will break down into organic material.

As Corona noted, most six-pack rings are recyclable, but only 9% of all plastic is recycled, making sustainable, plastic-free solutions such as this all the more critical. Whileother craft breweries have utilized this new method of packaging, Corona is the first global beer brand to test out the plastic-free ring.

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“Our oceans are under attack,” said Founder and CEO of Parley for the Oceans Cyrill Gutsch in a press release. ”We are taking their life in rapid speed, destroying the chemistry that allows us to be here. Therefore we are bidding on the few who take the lead in true change. The ones who are shaping the future with us. Corona is such an Ocean Champion, a powerful ally in our war against marine plastic pollution — and in building the material revolution that will lead us beyond it. We share the goal of phasing plastic out for good because we simply can’t afford its toxic impact anymore..”

“The beach is an important part of Corona’s DNA, and we have been working with Parley to address the issue on the frontlines where plastic is physically accumulating,” said Evan Ellman, Corona Better World Director, in the same press release. “We also recognize the influence a global brand like Corona can have on the industry, and with the support of Parley, are pursuing scalable solutions like plastic-free six-pack rings that can become a new standard to avoid plastic for good.”

Starting next year, Corona will pilot their plastic-free six-pack ring in the UK and Mexico.

As for the tests themselves, consumers shouldn’t worry about whether or not there’s an actual handle for the six-pack as you should always cradle your beer like a newborn baby anyway.

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