Getting a Grip on Recycling
Canadian Packaging
Sustainability Cans Plastic Berry Global Orpheus Brewing WaveGripWaveGrip provides a packaging solution and carrier return plan for Orpheus Brewing
WaveGrip, a company of Berry Global, is providing a packaging solution and carrier return plan for the Atlanta, Ga.-based craft brewer Orpheus Brewing to help reduce its packaging waste as part of a larger company effort to slash its annual packaging footprint.
Orpheus Brewing operates a 16,000-squarefoot brew house and taproom focusing on four core beers and an endless range of specials, with flavors ranging from tart sours to strong barrel-aged stouts.
Aiming to reduce its overall packaging footprint, the WaveGrip beer can carriers provided a perfect place to start. Weighing only 3.5-gram for a standard six-pack carrier, WaveGrip provides an 85-percent reduction in material usage when compared to HDPE plastic handles, and a 10-percent savings when compared to traditional ring carriers.
Compared to standard HDPE carriers, WaveGrip allows for up to 370 per cent more carriers per pallet, thereby reducing overall shipment cost, as well as fuel consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions..
Being made from LDPE, WaveGrip carriers are recyclable, but the challenge remained to ensure that the carriers were collected for recycling. This, together with understanding the differences in recycling capabilities across the U.S. states, led to the ‘Orpheus Carrier Recycle Program’.
Under the scheme, Orpheus customers can now return their used carriers to any of their taprooms and get an incentive off future Orpheus purchases. Once a sufficient number of carriers have been returned, they are collected in bulk by WaveGrip and recycled into a diverse range of products such as decking, road paving and other types of packaging, including brand new WaveGrip carriers.
“The sustainability of WaveGrip was fundamental to our choice of carriers and has helped to significantly reduce our packaging usage,” says Orpheus Brewing’s chief executive officer Remco Bos.
Adds WaveGrip’s managing director Aaron McIvor: “We know how important sustainability is to our customers and it is integral to our WaveGrip products and development.
“We are therefore delighted to support this initiative by Orpheus Brewing and ensure that WaveGrip carriers are collected as part of a circular approach to packaging,” McIvor states.
“We very much hope that this is the first step in launching a wider collection plan across the U.S. carriers in coming months.”
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