Packaging and Recycling

Recycling has always been in our company’s DNA. In 1959, Bill Coors, who at the time was president of Adolph Coors Company, pioneered the recyclable aluminum can. At the time, beer was packaged in tin containers that not only gave beer an aftertaste, but also resulted in wasted packaging. Aluminum allowed the company to deliver fresher-tasting beer to consumers, while providing a container that is 100 percent recyclable.

In the same spirit as Bill Coors, today we work with our suppliers to develop new ways to lighten materials and eliminate unnecessary packaging in our beverage containers, in our operations, at retail and throughout our supply chain. We also encourage our beer drinkers to recycle their cans and bottles wherever possible.

Packaging Performance

Packaging weight can be affected by light-weighting initiatives, as well as changes in product mix (for example, bottles are heavier than cans).

Overall, we reduced packaging by more than 7,500 tons of our aluminum and glass in 2015 and reduced GHG emissions from packaging by 17 percent over 2014. The projects we will be working on in 2016 include light-weighting our 12-ounce industry-standard can, which we expect to lead to a 10-percent weight reduction across our entire portfolio of brands.

From Glass to Glass

MillerCoors believes that behind every bottle of beer, there should be less waste. That’s why our packaging strategy is to increase recycled materials such as paper and glass every year. One of our bottling facilities, Rocky Mountain Bottle Company (RMBC) in Colorado, partners with a glass recycling facility in New Mexico. During fall 2017 alone, this resulted in over 300 tons of recycled glass being sent from Santa Fe to Denver to ultimately be used in new bottles for brands such as Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon.

Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

We’ve created a culture of doing more with less across our operations, so that’s why we are focused on efficient energy use and integrating renewables whenever we can. In 2017, Rocky Mountain Bottle Company (RMBC) in Colorado purchased about 27,700 tons of cullet from Momentum Recycling. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our partnership is roughly equal to 1,600 cars being taken off the roads for one year. 

This is a huge stride in our overall 2025 goal toward reducing our absolute carbon emissions from our direct opperations by 50% and achieve an absolute carbon emissions reduction of 20% across our value chain by 2025.