DS Smith collaborates with brewery for interactive and recyclable beer bottle packs

DS Smith has partnered with the Slovakia-based Martins Brewery for recyclable beer bottle packaging, incorporating a simple unboxing experience and an interactive design.

DS Smith shares with Packaging Insights that its six-handle packaging is made from fully recycled materials with an eco-friendly adhesive. Its simple construction and manual folding eliminate the need for complex machinery or special equipment, according to the multinational packaging giant.

Martin Němec, subregional managing director at DS Smith, says: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Martins Brewery and to produce a solution with an innovative, interactive, and memorable component. Our design team also set out to support this customer in reducing the volume and number of materials, focusing on keeping these materials in use for longer.”

The brown, corrugated box has a folding system that creates six individual beer bottle compartments. On the inside, Martins Brewery designed interactive mathematical puzzles for customers to explore the brand’s sociable ethos. 

Norbert Pilka, CEO at Martins Brewery, says: “We wanted to combine ‘logically ecological beer’ with sustainable packaging, and the design concept immediately catches the customer’s attention in a retail environment. The packaging contains maths and fun tasks that reflect the individuality of the Martins Brewery brand for our customers. The puzzles, like the recyclable packaging, can be reused.”

Sustainable strategy

DS Smith applied its Circular Design Metric tool that measures and quantifies the sustainability performance of its packaging products across eight different indicators: carbon footprint, reuse, supply chain optimization, recyclability, and material utilization to recycled content.

The fiber-based packaging provider’s environmental impact strategy, Now and Next, details its commitment to helping companies transition to a circular economy. 

Recently, DS Smith partnered with Danish egg producer Niels & Grete to eliminate plastic from its packaging. The solution involves placing eggs into one molded pulp tray that can be slotted into a fully recyclable corrugated cardboard pack.

Meanwhile, International Paper and DS Smith combined their businesses to establish a “global leader” in sustainable packaging solutions, with a regional focus on North America and EMEA.