Coors Light announced it will eliminate plastic rings from packaging globally, where Molson Coors owns brewing operations. To support the move to more sustainable packaging, Molson Coors Beverage Co., Chicago, will invest $85 million, enabling Coors Light to begin the transition to fully recyclable and sustainably sourced cardboard-wrap carriers later this year.
The Molson Coors investment will upgrade packaging machinery, which also will allow the company’s entire North American portfolio of brands to advance to cardboard wrap carriers by the end of 2025. In total, the move by Molson Coors will save 1.7 million pounds of plastic waste annually. In 2021, Molson Coors removed plastic rings across all major brands sold in the United Kingdom, including Coors and Carling, and transitioned to recyclable cardboard sleeves. Molson Coors in Canada moved to more sustainable plastic rings in 2021 as an initial step, and as part of the announcement commits to eliminate plastic rings entirely.
“Our business, and Coors in particular, has a long history of using packaging innovation to protect our environment, and today we are building on that rich legacy,” said Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley, in a statement. “Just as Coors led the way by pioneering the recyclable aluminum can, Coors Light will lead the way by moving out of single-use plastic rings in North America.”
Coors Light will debut the new packaging at the “Plastic-Free Future Mart by Coors Light,” a sustainable pop-up concept store in NYC. The Plastic-Free Future Mart is open March 2 to 6 and is located at 603 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, NY to adults 21 years old and older.
The “Plastic Free Future Mart by Coors Light” will model as inspiration and a vision for a world with no single-use plastics, the company says.
“We believe that buying beer shouldn’t mean buying plastic,” said Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for the Coors family of brands, in a statement. “That’s why we’re taking a step toward making packaging even more sustainable, and with this achievement Coors Light will save 400,000 pounds of single-use plastic from becoming waste every year.”
