Will Carlsberg’s beer packaging solution stick?

Danish beer brand Carlsberg has come up with a novel way to reduce up to 76% of plastic packaging used in multi-packs. Their solution is simple yet effective; glue.

Overpackaging has been a problem for many years now. Especially in the alcohol industry, which was worth approximately US$ 40 billion last year. Analysts believe that secondary packaging market (boxes, multipacks, tubes etc.) will grow at a ‘healthy’ 5.3% during the forecast period 2017-2025.

Snap and drink

So why not embrace the ‘less is more’ mindset? That’s exactly what Carlsberg is doing. The beer brand explains that its fitting called “Snap Pack”completely replaces traditional plastic packaging wrapped around Carlsberg multi-packs with a glue. This substance sticks the cans together like Lego blocks until the consumer removes one from the pack.

The Snap Packs have launched on a trial basis in the UK and Norway this month, says Carlsberg’s sustainability director Simon Boas Hoffmeyer. Further rollouts are scheduled for 2019.

60 million plastic bags

Once the packaging solution has been adopted in Carlsberg’s 11 global markets, the brewer’s plastic packaging waste will be reduced by more than 1200 tonnes a year. ‘This is the equivalent to 60 million plastic bags’, Hoffmeyer notes.

He adds that the glue should placed into recycling bins alongside the cans, rather than separated.