New Biodegradable Six-Pack Ring Could Be Craft Beer’s Future

Six-Pack, New Biodegradable Six-Pack Ring Could Be Craft Beer’s Future

Plastic six-pack rings are a nightmare. They trash oceans, ensnare sea life and will outlast us all…Which is why one startup is championing an eco-friendly alternative.

E6PR (Eco Six Pack Ring) is hoping to change the beer biz as we know it with a progressive approach to sustainable beer packaging that may be its future…

Biodegradable and compostable, E6PR six-pack packaging will eventually break down outside or in the water. And unlike today’s omnipresent plastic six-pack pretzels, if an animal eats it, the material won’t harm its digestive system.

Launched in 2017 and headquartered in Mexico, E6PR was founded by We Believers, Entelequia and a group of investors in the beverage packaging industry. And they are beginning to make waves with their product that won’t trash the oceans or its residents.

In 2017 E6PR was one of the Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards winners but as Francisco Garcia, COO at E6PR explained “bringing the product to the level of performance that we have right now was really challenging.”

The current version which debuted in the US at the SaltWater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida is made with wheat and barley. So yes, it’s edible (think a very stale cookie) but no one’s suggesting that you eat it. And the company is even looking to incorporate brewery waste product in an upcoming version.

Since that debut in 2018, Forbes is reporting craft brewers in Australia, South Africa, Poland, Scotland and the Solomon Islands have signed on, along with a “a handful of US brewers in Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington State.”Six-Pack, New Biodegradable Six-Pack Ring Could Be Craft Beer’s Future

But E6PR isn’t the only eco-friendly alternative to plastic rings being tested…

In 2018 Danish brewer, Carlsberg announced that it would be replacing traditional plastic 6-pack rings, with tiny dots of glue binding the cans together that won’t trash the world’s oceans or entangle its sea life.

Making its debut in the UK, Carlsberg’s “Snap Pack” hopes to reduce the amount of plastic used in traditional multi-packs by up to 76%, and the company’s overall global plastic usage by more than 1,200 tons.

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