DURANGO, Colorado— Ska Brewing has completed the installation of a CanCollar Corsair provided by WestRock. Ska 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.
Ska has never been keen on plastic packaging, but recently identified an alternative that supports its sustainability goals.
Enter WestRock, a global paper and packaging leader dedicated to sustainability whose portfolio includes solutions for craft and artisanal beverage producers. 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 percent 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.”
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.”
From the choice of aluminum cans over bottles and the recycling of bowling alley lanes and old denim in the tasting room design, to the reduction of water consumption in the brewhouse and so many other initiatives to reduce waste, Ska Brewing has been a thought leader paving the way for environmental innovation over the course of its nearly 28 years in business. The brewery would love to share these strategies with anyone who asks.
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 in April.
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi and Rue B. Soho.
WestRock (NYSE: WRK) is a global leader in sustainable paper and packaging solutions, with more than 50,000 teammates in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Our integrated packaging capabilities offer end-to-end solutions to help customers address their greatest challenges.
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