CUTTING CARDBOARD to CUT EMISSIONS

THESE DAYS EVERYONE’S DOING THEIR PART to help conserve the environment and save on production costs. New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale, has announced it will remove cardboard partitions from 12-pack carriers in an effort to reduce its cardboard consumption. At current production levels, the move will eliminate 15O tons of cardboard from going into New Belgium packaging, while preventing 174 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. In addition, the transition will save New Belgium an estimated $28O,OOO in the coming year. “We’ve designed a new 12-pack carton that will tighten the case to prevent bottles from hitting each other during transit,” said Director of Operations Mark Fischer. “We ran the initial test of 25OO cases into our local market with no complaints or breakage issues.” Known as an industry leader in minimizing resource consumption, New Belgium has long sought to reduce, reuse and recycle throughout its production process. Reducing cardboard consumption has the added benefit of cutting costs. “We researched this decision thoroughly and the vast benefits are hard to ignore,” added New Belgium’s Sustainability Director Jenn Orgolini. “We are continuously looking at new ways to improve our processes and this shift makes a lot of sense.” Folly Packs, or mixed 12-packs, will still use the partition due to the logistics of hand packing.