Carlsberg Marston’s trials glass bottles with 90% lower carbon impact

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company, the joint venture between Carlsberg UK and Marston’s Plc, said it has started a trial of glass beer bottles that cut the carbon impact by up to 90 per cent.

Being run in partnership with glass bottle supplier Encirc, the trial uses 100 per cent biofuel and increases recycled content of glass bottles to 100 per cent.

The company said one million beer bottles have been manufactured for Carlsberg Danish Pilsner brand which will go into circulation in the UK.

“We are delighted this ground-breaking trial has successfully proven and produced ultra-low carbon Carlsberg glass beer bottles,” commented Mark Comline, senior category director for group packaging materials, Carlsberg Group.

“Across Carlsberg we are inspired to work together towards a zero-carbon future. Trials like this in partnership with Encirc are a massive leap towards making it a reality.”

The trial will also feed into UK Government policy through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Energy Innovation Programme, as part of the Glass Futures industry initiative.

“This trial has huge potential, transforming glass from the highest carbon impact packaging format to the lowest. We’re proud to be working with pioneers in the industry, contributing to the development of a low-carbon future, and going Together Towards ZERO,” said Sam Brakes, senior procurement manager at Carlsberg Marston’s.

The company said glass bottles account for around 10 per cent of the total beer-in-hand emissions for the brewer, adding that the trial has significant potential to support its target to cut emissions across its value chain as part of Carlsberg Group’s Together Towards ZERO programme.

The trial sees Encirc switching the glass furnace to run on biogas, a renewable fuel made from waste organic materials, with far lower carbon emissions than the natural gas it replaces. At the same time, recycled content of the glass was increased up to 100%, exceeding initial expectations.

“This is a truly momentous occasion for glass. We have set the standard globally with this trial and now the glass industry needs to work towards realising what we’ve proved is possible,” commented Adrian Curry, managing director at Encirc.

Carlsberg Marston’s has earlier in 2019 redesigned the bottles of Carlsberg Danish Pilsner in the UK to make them 10 grams lighter, saving over 130 tonnes of glass in the first year alone.