The Reusiverse
Last fall, we got word of a new can carrier reuse initiative being launched in Vermont by Ben Kogan of Reusable Solutions and Rob Vandenabeele of EcoFriendlyBeer.com. Naturally, we were a bit skeptical. After all, can carriers are notoriously misleading in terms of their recyclability. They’re made of plastic, which one would think could be recycled, but in reality the small size, thin profile and light weight of the product causes them to be missorted in Vermont’s single stream recycling system, sorting them in with papers rather than plastics. When this happens, the entire batch of paper to be recycled is “contaminated,” and both the perfectly-recyclable paper and the plastic carriers are sent straight to the landfill.
The VBS gang with Ben of EcoFriendlyBeer.com
Long story short, can carriers were being “recycled” - a.k.a, collected to be recycled, and then thrown away.
When we initially heard about the new program, we had some questions. After reaching out for more answers, we learned that the initiative was focused on can carrier REUSE, not just carrier recycling. In fact, Ben & Rob’s idea was a simple one: collect can carriers at breweries & retail locations then redistribute them to participating breweries to be sanitized and reused in the packaging process. Any carriers that are unable to be reused by breweries (broken or damaged, for example) are instead brought directly to Northwest Solid Waste Management and bypass the finicky sorting process to ensure that the carriers are recycled properly.
In the first two months of the program, Ben and Rob reported collecting over ten thousand carriers, and immediately began planning for expansion. After learning more about it, we knew we had to hop on board.
Thanks to financial support from Lawson’s Finest Liquids and SunCommon, logistical support from Dan Sartwell of Black Flannel and the Vermont Brewers Association, and operational support from yours truly, the can carrier reuse initiative, now called the Reusiverse, is up and running state-wide. Our role is to pick up collected carriers at participating locations and deliver them to participating breweries.
There’s been significant success so far and we’re thrilled to see so many of our retail accounts and breweries participate in the initiative.
For a full list of participating locations, check out the button below. To read more about the program and our role in it, check out BrewBound’s article also linked below (look Ma, we’re famous!).