1. Goodbye beer PET bottles
This year, the brewers from Prazdroj definitively stopped bottling beer into PET bottles and selling it to their customers. Plastic beer bottles contain an inner membrane that protects the beer and its taste, and cannot be recycled back into the beer PET. The Gambrinus and Šariš brands were the first to leave beer PET last year, thanks to which Prazdroj reduced plastic waste by more than 500 tons per year. This year, the last two brands that offer beer in PET bottles have been added – Smädný Mních and Velkopopovický Kozel.

2. Returnable glass as the most environmentally friendly packaging
According to the analysis in which Prazdroj examined the impact of beer packaging on the environment during their entire life cycle, the most environmentally friendly type of packaging is a returnable glass bottle. That is why the manufacturer is increasingly motivating its consumers to choose this type of packaging. The refillable glass bottle is refilled in Prazdroj approximately 17 times. Thanks to its activities, this ecologically clean material is becoming more and more popular among Slovaks, and this year returnable glass bottles have become the second strongest category in terms of bottled beer volumes in Slovakia.

3. The aluminum foil has been replaced by paper
Pilsner Urquell returnable glass bottles have undergone a significant transformation this year. Since March, typical gold-plated aluminum foils on bottle necks and plastic stickers have replaced paper labels. Thanks to this, today all batteries are fully recyclable and the brewery will save 106 tons of waste per year.

4. Ecological cans
The most popular beer packaging for Slovaks are cans. In order to be a lesser burden on the environment, Prazdroj has long considered their thickness and weight, and thus the amount of aluminum used, which contributes to saving the environment.

Source: Plzeňský Prazdroj Slovakia

5. Energy savings and lower carbon footprint
Ecological production of the can and the amount of used recycled material. A recycled can has up to 80% lower carbon footprint and up to 95% less energy is used to produce it than a can made of virgin material. All Prazdroj cans contain an average of 40 to 50% recycled aluminum.

6. Lightweight crowns
Material and energy savings can also affect the beer packaging closures themselves. For example, in the case of returnable glass bottles, Prazdroj focused on a sheet metal crown cap, which is lightweight. This step will also help reduce CO2 emissions from their production.

7. The beginning of the backup era
In addition to being intensive with its packaging team, Prazdroj also takes into account what happens to them after the consumer uses them. Such a sustainability strategy and the company’s goal of achieving packaging circulation is a new backup system, which will be launched in Slovakia on January 1, 2022. Brewers are also actively involved in its construction and the Slovak Association of Beer and Malt Producers is Plzeňský Prazdroj Slovakia. . The new advance system supports and welcomes the fact that Slovakia will become one of the countries that will allow its people to live more sustainably from next year.

8. Multipacks as a friendly option
With bottled beer, brewers are also thinking about how to help consumers take home bottles out of the store, so that their choice is not only economical and environmentally friendly, but also as comfortable as possible. This year, consumers in Slovakia were able to find so-called multipacks are provided by Šariš, Gambrinus and Velkopopovický Kozel, which can easily and safely take them home in 8 and 1 pieces0. The packaging contained, among other things, instructions on how to properly pour beer from a glass bottle, or thanks for buying organic packaging.

9. Films with added value
Did you know that foils that hold cans of beer sources such as Pilsner Urquell, Saris or Gambrinus together in one package are now 100% recycled material? During the transport of beer, they also recorded the so-called stretch films, which hold the beers together on pallets. Prazdroj purposefully reduced their weight and the number of necessary wrapping, which will save Slovakia another ton of plastics a year.

Source: Plzeňský Prazdroj Slovakia

10. Zero landfilling
Prazdroj also approaches the topic of waste as responsibly as possible. By 2025, it aims to reduce them by more than 30% while achieving zero landfilling. All production by-products are now reusable.

The article was created within the framework of #EkoSpol, which brings the project of Plzeňský Prazdroj Slovakia with the aim of describing the reduction of business impacts on the environment.
• The direction of Plzeňský Prazdroj Slovakia in the area of ​​sustainable development determines the sustainability strategy In the future 2030.
• In addition to achieving carbon neutrality in beer production by 2030, Prazdroj will use renewable energy, reduce plastics production and wants to maintain the leader in saving water.
• Responsible for production also applies to product promotion, supports the regions in which it operates and supports the approach to managing natural resources as efficiently as possible.
• It summarizes the company’s steps in the area of ​​sustainability over the past year Integrated Sustainability Report 2020.

Source: noviny.sk/SITA