WDS Group joins Lightweight Containers in KeyKeg recycling program in North UK

29 Apr 2019 --- UK-based WDS Group is joining Dutch company Lightweight Containers in a closed-loop recycling program for its PET beer kegs, KeyKegs. The program was initially launched as a pilot scheme, limited to the London area, in December 2018. E-commerce shipping company, First Mile collected used KeyKegs from bars and delivered them to plastic recycling specialists OneCircle, where they were processed and turned back into KeyKegs. WDS Group will now take up the baton in the Greater Manchester area.

Most plastic beverage kegs in the UK are not recycled and often end up in landfill. To overcome this problem, OneCircle has created a circular program which recycles the basic materials from KeyKegs, turning them into new, useable kegs.

According to OneCircle, more than 90 percent of the plastic kegs in the UK are KeyKegs, so once rolled out, this initiative should dramatically reduce the number of plastic kegs being thrown into general waste and potentially ending up in landfill.  

“We estimate that more than 500,000 KeyKegs end up in Manchester alone every year and it is great that we can now use them as raw materials again. It meets a huge need,” says Sam Evans, Sales Director for WDS. 

“Many bars and breweries have heard that we are going to process KeyKegs and have spontaneously saved them up. It is clear to them that a lot of plastic ends up in landfill and they want to prevent that from happening. The time has come to work together with packaging producers on closed loops, and Sam Evans, Sales Director for WDSOneCircle is leading the way,” he notes.

Lightweight Containers is the founder of the innovative KeyKeg and UniKeg system. The kegs are made from lightweight plastic, as opposed to steel or wood, thereby reducing CO2 emissions and costs during travel. They are also almost entirely circular: old kegs become new kegs. 

KeyKegs and UniKegs are one-way packaging systems for beer, but also kombucha and cold or nitro coffee. The kegs are a strictly one-use product, but the material they are made of can be recycled into new kegs after use. As a result of its partnership with OneCircle, used KeyKegs and UniKegs are collected to be processed, separated and the materials re-used in high-end applications, increasing the total volume of recycled sets of KeyKegs and UniKegs.

The news comes as the beverage industry is looking to significantly ramp up its environmental approach to packaging and increase sustainability. 

Sustainability is a strong demand across the packaging industry and the alcoholic beverage space is no exception. Recently, Carlton & United Breweries scrapped plastic six-pack rings on its beer cans. The Australian company expects to prevent more than 25 million plastic rings from entering the environment each year. Also waving goodbye to plastics, US-based New Barn Organics has transitioned its Almond Milk line from plastic packs to Evergreen Packaging’s paper PlantCarton. 

A special container squeezes empty KeyKegs Last week, Diageo’s Guinness announced that Harp and Smithwick’s will remove plastic ring carriers and shrink wrap from its multipacks. In its place comes 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable cardboard packaging, with a recycled content level of 15 percent.

In November 2018, Corona became the first global beer brand to trial 100 percent plastic-free six-pack rings. The new rings were piloted in Mexico at the beginning of 2019, with further tests in the UK planned for later in the year. Corona announced that it will pilot plastic-free six-pack rings in select markets as part of the brand’s commitment with Parley for the Oceans to lead the industry with eco-friendly packaging.

The Carlsberg Group also previously unveiled a new Snap Pack: an innovation that replaces the traditional, bulky plastic rings that accompany multi-packs of beer with a pioneering solution that instead bonds beer cans together with recyclable glue. The technology is set to reduce plastic waste globally by more than 1200 tons a year – the equivalent to 60 million plastic bags, according to the Danish brewery.

Widespread bans on single-use plastics, the implementation of China’s “National Sword” policy and increasing media attention around the environmental scourge of plastic pollution have intensified the demand for recycle-ready packaging solutions. Innova Market Insights has identified “Recyclable by design” as its number one trend in packaging for 2019 and has previously labeled 2018 “a sustainability tipping point for packaging.