Carlsberg launches new ‘snap pack’ packaging

Brewing company Carlsberg has unveiled new packaging that holds beer cans together with glue in a “world first” for the industry that will drastically cut the company’s plastic use.

The ‘snap pack’ cans will reduce the amount of plastic used in traditional multipacks by up to 76%, equivalent to 137 kilograms every hour, and 1,200 tonnes a year.

Special inks to improve label recyclability have also been introduced, along with improved caps that remove oxygen from bottles to make the beer taste fresher.

“Proving that sustainable packaging does not have to be a fairy-tale, snap pack is the latest in a series of packaging innovations from Carlsberg,” the company’s sustainability director, Simon Boas Hofmeyer, said.

“It is our first major initiative to directly impact the people who love Carlsberg – we recognise our responsibility to operate sustainably and always strive for better.”

The latest announcement is part of Carlsberg’s sustainability programme, Together Towards Zero, which has an aim of eliminating emissions from all its breweries by 2030.

This comes after Carlsberg revealed last year that is had opened its first carbon neutral brewery in Sweden, with the facility 100% powered by biogas and green electricity.

A quarter of the brewery’s thermal energy comes from biogas generated from the brewery's own waste water, while the rest has so far been powered by natural gas.

"For many, many years we have been working to create a more efficient brewery with as little impact on our environment as possible,” Carlsberg Sverige MD, Ted Akiskalos, said.

“This is clear when looking at how much we have reduced our energy consumption over the years. It is motivating that we now take a big step forward and use solely carbon neutral energy sources.”

Carlsberg has also set an industry-leading 1.5˚C ambition emissions target, compared to the Paris Agreement’s base-level 2˚C goal, through the Science-Based Targets initiative.

Image credit: ©Carlsberg