PLANT BASED BEER RINGS

Another beer brand is committing to helping the environment. In an effort to help reduce ocean pollution, Corona is piloting plastic-free six-pack rings in select markets beginning with Mexico. It’s part of their initiative with Parley for the Oceans to lead the industry with eco-friendly packaging. Both Corona and Parley have a shared mission to help protect the world’s oceans and beaches from marine plastic pollution. The partnership began with a commitment to protect 1OO islands by 2O2O and expands to include the pursuit of scalable innovation that can change the status quo. The plastic-free rings being tested are made from plant-based biodegradable fibers, with a mix of by-product waste and compostable materials. If left in the environment, they break down into organic material that is not harmful to wildlife, whereas industry standard plastic six-pack rings are made from a photodegradable form of polyethylene that results in increasingly smaller pieces of plastic if not recycled. Although most plastic rings are recyclable, the majority of all plastic ever created hasn’t been recycled, which is the motivation for brands like Corona to seek out solutions that avoid the material entirely. Since the partnership launched in 2O17, Corona and Parley have conducted over three hundred clean-ups in over 15 countries, including the Maldives, Palau, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Chile, Indonesia, Italy, South Africa and Australia, with over seven thousand volunteers from more than two hundred locations participating in the project, totaling more than three million pounds of plastic waste collected.