UK – Leading US beverage company Molson Coors has begun distributing its Staropramen beer brand in new low-carbon bottles.

The new glass beer bottle was developed through a partnership with partner Encirc and is said to have 90% less carbon footprint compared standard glass bottles.

The glass achieves this remarkable rating by being made in a sustainable process that involves use of renewable and sustainable biofuels in the glass production process.

The glass making process also features a significant increase in the recycled content of the brewer’s green glass bottles to cut down on need to use virgin materials.

The new bottles are manufactured using up to 100% cullet – recycled or waste glass – up from the 75% previously used.

The packaging initiative aims to support Molson Coors’ sustainability targets, which include a 50% reduction in the company’s carbon emissions across its global operations by 2025.

 “This trial is a major step for us in reducing the carbon footprint of our much-loved products, and we look forward to continuing to explore how we can implement this across our wider portfolio on a larger scale in the future,” says Fraser Thomson, operations director at Molson Coors Beverage Company.

Rob Turvey, sales and marketing director at Encirc, added: “This ground-breaking biofuel trial has shown the world the fundamental role that glass can play in supporting food and beverage organisations in their ambitions to decarbonise supply chains.

It further demonstrates why we believe that glass is a key environmentally beneficial packaging format for all forward-thinking beverage companies.”

New beer made from whisky hops

Meanwhile, in Canada, the beverage giant announced a partnership with Pernod Ricard’s Canadian arm to release a new Molson lager produced using whisky hops.

Dubbed Molson Common Bond, the new 6.1%-abv beer is brewed with hop extract made from JP Wiser’s Canadian whisky.

“We’ve created something quite unique for the marketplace,” said Molson Coors’ senior beverage development specialist, Andy Preston.

Pernod has joined with brewers in other markets to launch product collaborations.

In 2019, New Orleans-based Urban South became the latest US brewer to take part in the Jameson Caskmates project, which ages the Irish whiskey in used beer barrel

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