Ska Brewing is the first craft brewery in North America to implement this automation solution, which will enable the company’s transition from plastic rings to a fiber-based solution for its multipack product wraps.
“The installation of the CanCollar Corsair is one of Ska’s ongoing, never-finished efforts to build a more sustainable future,” says co-founder and CEO Dave Thibodeau. “We saw the opportunity to implement this fiber-based CanCollar and we’re jumping on it. We hope it will become the industry standard moving forward.”
Ska has never been keen on plastic packaging, but identified WestRock’s Can Collar as an alternative that supports its sustainability goals. The company’s CanCollar Corsair machine automatically applies various CanCollar paperboard-based multipack formats to 24-pack trays of product, which gives Ska the ability to package all of its canned brand offerings—including four-packs and six-packs—using a solution that reduces plastics consumption by up to 95% when compared to alternative plastic multipack options.
“The CanCollar, which promotes circularity, will immediately reduce the amount of plastic Ska contributes to the environment by approximately four tons per year,” says Ska Brewing COO Steve Breezley. “This contributes to a reduction in overall waste and the carbon footprint associated with the shipping and storage of our products. The innovation, ethos and ethics behind this solution are what we’re all about.”
Beer lovers can look for all of Ska’s canned brand offerings to sport recyclable fiber collars applied by the CanCollar Corsair on shelves starting this month, in April. PW
