Recycling
Maximising Circular Packaging
Joost Nawijn
Packaging Material Development Specialist
"We will continue to strive for further improvements in the coming years that will lead to less waste, less material consumption and lowe transport costs."
Maximising circular packaging
We use lightweight packaging and make sure that our bottles are reused. We promote recycling, as it helps us save resources and reduce our impact on the environment. Sustainability is key when it comes to designing and developing our packaging: we constantly ask ourselves whether we can be even more environmentally friendly and always strive to keep innovating.
Objective
Using more recycled plastics obtained from various sources as packaging material for can and tray film.
Result
Objective
Continuing to find new uses for recycled plastics. We will be recycling our waste pallet fi lm into pallet fi lm for Grolsch products.
Result
Objective
Taking the next steps to ensure that circular cups are used at all our festivals.
Result
Due to COVID-19, no festivals took place in 2020. We will provide all our festivals with circular cups as soon as the situation allows this again.
OBJECTIVES 2020
We want to continue to reduce the amount of waste we produce by:
- Using more recycled plastics obtained from various sources as packaging material for can and tray film
- Continuing to find new uses for recycled plastics. We will be recycling our waste pallet film into pallet film for Grolsch products
- Taking the next steps to ensure that circular cups are used at all our festivals
Joost Nawijn, Packaging Material Development Specialist – Royal Grolsch:
“Society is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability and demands responsible products. This is one of the reasons why we constantly ask ourselves whether we can be even more environmentally friendly and always strive to keep innovating. Achieving the same results with increasingly sustainable packaging is a major challenge for us, which we try to tackle by using more recycled plastic and cardboard, for instance, or modified pallet stickers. In the coming years, we will continue to strive to make further improvements that will reduce the amount of waste we produce and the amount of material we use, as well as lowering our transport costs. Sustainable production methods are the future of our company and, indeed, of the the world as a whole!”
Esther Saris, Key Account Manager Benelux – Smurfit Kappa
“Grolsch can be proud of the achievements in the field of sustainable and responsible business. In 2025, Grolsch wants to be completely CO2 neutral, an objective with character! You are not working alone on a sustainable future; it requires close cooperation. In practice, this means that we are constantly exploring new opportunities for material efficiency, innovation and the reuse of our packaging solutions. Smart packaging design makes it possible to reduce logistics movements and thus contribute to a fully CO2-neutral brewery. Sustainability and innovation are inextricably linked and offer new opportunities in collaboration. Sustainable goals will be the driving force behind a new era of creative approaches to products and services. I look forward to continuing our collaboration to contribute to a sustainable world. "
Activities
Sustainable Kornuit POS materials
Kornuit is synonymous with sustainability, which is why this Pilsner brand will now only use sustainable Point of Sale (POS) materials to present its beers on shop floors. Through various projects, Kornuit wants to contribute to a better, cleaner world with less waste. To name one example, consumers were given two pairs of socks made from recycled fishnets with each purchase of a crate of Kornuit in July 2019 to emphasise the importance of sustainability, In previous years Kornuit has also launched sunglasses (with frames made of ECO straw) and bottle openers (made from recycled beer kegs) as POS materials.
More info: press release, 23 July 2019
Towards 100,000 full garbage bags together
Our Kornuit Pilsner brand actively supports Trashpackers, an initiative by Hengelo-based Tijmen Sissing, who has called on backpackers to clean up waste on their travels and reduce the amount of plastic waste they produce themselves. As such, Trashpackers symbolises a common wish among young people: combining travel with sustainability. This initiative meshes well with the various projects that Kornuit already supports in order to contribute to a better, cleaner world with less plastic waste. To celebrate this fantastic match, Kornuit now supports Trashpackers financially, and the two partners are set to organise joint cleanup campaigns in the Netherlands in the future.
More info: press release, 20 August 2019
Sustainable festival tray: saving money and the environment
In 2019 we started using reusable carrier trays at festivals for our beer brands Grolsch and Kornuit. These reusable carrier trays are made of recycled plastic and will replace their cardboard predecessors. Festival organisers are given the opportunity to borrow the reusable trays, with the brewer taking care of shipment, logistics, cleaning and storage. These trays are issued at the festival bars - provided festival guests pay a deposit - and returned later. Following the launch of our circular cups, we want to continue contributing to reducing the amount of plastic waste society produces, to cleaner festival sites, and to improving the overall festival experience. Once the festival season has begun and we're all out of leftover cardboard trays, these sustainable trays will be the only trays used with Grolsch and Kornuit beer.
More info: press release, 28 May 2019
Plastic Promise & Plastic Pact
Together with other frontrunners in the events industry, Grolsch is promoting the responsible use of plastic. Naturally, we have already started. Take our Kornuit crate, made of 100% recycled consumer waste, for instance, and our pledge to use circular cups at all our festivals starting in 2020. Within three years, the member organisations of Plastic Promise want at least 50% of all disposable plastic items, such as cups, plates, cutlery and ponchos, to be replaced by reusable products or to be recycled without loss of quality.
For more info, go to plasticpromise.nl
In February 2019, Grolsch also signed the Plastic Pact at the Circular Economy Conference, hosted by State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven. Grolsch finds it very important to take responsibility for sustainability and constantly strives to use less, better or no plastic at all. The signatories of this Pact have agreed to the following:
- To reduce plastic use by 20% before 2025;
- To make all disposable plastic packaging 100% recyclable;
- To recycle at least 70% of all disposable plastic products and packaging without loss of quality;
- To ensure that all plastic products and packaging are made of at least 35% recycled plastic.
More information: see rijksoverheid.nl
Lightweight crown caps
We use lightweight crown caps for all our 33 cl return bottles. These caps are 17% lighter and contain 19% less steel than their predecessors, which means Grolsch now uses 100,000 kg less steel than before. On top of that, this change has reduced transport costs throughout the chain and has also lowered our environmental impact. Grolsch favours sustainable solutions without compromising on quality.
reduction of plastic pallet film
At the end of 2019, we started testing pallet film containing 50% recycled material. As of 2020 we supply this material to the supplier ourselves, from our own residual streams. In this way, we are recycling our residual flow of pallet film plastic into new pallet film for Grolsch products. The test period was completed in 2020, and the film has now been fully implemented. In 2020, this resulted in a saving of 52,000 kilos of virgin plastic.
Decreasing and reusing plastic packaging
Further reduction of the amount of glass used
Circular cups at festivals nl
In 2018 and 2019, our beer brands Grolsch and Kornuit launched a pilot with circular cups at festivals, offering festival organisers a full-service package that included delivery, logistics, cleaning and storage. In this way, we are looking to make our contribution to reducing the amount of plastic waste society produces, to cleaner festival sites, and to improving the visitor’s overall festival experience. During the pilot, we tested reusable hard cups and soft cups. The latter, made of recycled PET, appeared to be the best option. Due to Covid it was not possible to introduce the cups on a larger scale on festivals in 2020, but we plan to do this is 2021.
In the campaign titled ‘Never Give Up On Your Cup’, Grolsch joins forces with festival organisers and other beverage brands to call upon all festival visitors to return all plastic cups and bottles to the bar or to a collection point. ‘Never Give Up On Your Cup’ is one of the initiatives spearheaded by the Plastic Promise, which strives to pave the way towards a circular drinking experience at events.
To find out more, go to yourcup.nl
Watch the video about circular cups here.
From waste to new crate
In the spring of 2018, Grolsch introduced a new crate for Kornuit, made entirely from plastic consumer waste. This waste is collected, sorted, separated and ground, after which lighter plastics, such as polypropylene and polyethylene are dried, collected and reprocessed into plastic. This is the plastic we use for our Kornuit crates. The crates meet all required specifications and were created by Grolsch in collaboration with DS Smith Plastics, who supply them. This development has made Grolsch the first company in the world to produce crates made from 100% recycled consumer plastic.
