Budweiser Brewing Group beers now plastic-ring free

Budweiser Brewing Group said it has eliminated plastic rings from its portfolio of beers.

The move will see the removal of 250 tonnes of plastic every year across its full canned beer range, including Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella Artois.

The group has achieved its target just a year after it announced this ambition in September 2019.

“We couldn’t have predicted the events of this year, but we were determined to not let this hinder our sustainability progress,” commented Paula Lindenberg, president of Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I.

“It’s why I’m so proud that we’ve met our target of removing plastic rings and shrink wrap from all our canned beers. Thanks to the hard work of our teams, there will be no plastic rings on any canned beer that leaves our breweries in the UK from today.”

The AB InBev subsidiary invested £6.3 million into the packaging infrastructure at its breweries in South Wales and Lancashire to reach the new milestone.

The sites, which together produce more than 4,000 cans per minute, are now fully equipped to produce alternatives to plastic rings, including fully recyclable wraps and Keel Clip, a new technology which uses recyclable paperboard to create a lighter weight pack.

When combined with decreasing its usage of plastic shrink wrap, the brewer has removed 850 tonnes of plastic waste from its supply chains.

AB InBev’s sustainability goals include making 100% of its products in packaging that is returnable or made from majority recycled content by 2025.

C&C Group, a key distribution partner for Budweiser Brewing Group, has also commenced its plans to cut plastic rings and shrink wrap across its cider portfolio, including Magner’s and Orchard Pig.

This will see the removal of another 250 tonnes of plastic from the UK market.

The changes, which started rolling out from March 2020, and will be completed by December 2021, by which time all of C&C’s cider brands will be packaged in 100% recyclable paperboard.