WaveGrip, a brand of Berry Global, is providing a packaging solution and carrier return scheme for Orpheus Brewing to help reduce their packaging waste and reduce the brewery’s annual packaging footprint by approximately 85%.

Opened in 2014 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, Orpheus Brewing operate a 20BBL, 16,000sqft brew house and tap room focusing on beers with drama and punch. With four core beers and an almost endless range of specials Orpheus’ flavours range from tart sours to strong barrel-aged stouts.

With the aim of reducing their overall packaging footprint, the WaveGrip carriers were the perfect choice for Orpheus. Weighing only 3.5g for a standard 6-pack carrier, WaveGrip provides an 85% reduction in material usage when compared to HDPE plastic handles and 10% savings when compared to traditional ring carriers.

Reduced manufacturing footprint, transport costs, and ease-of-storage also contributed to the brewery’s decision in choosing WaveGrip. Compared to HDPE carriers WaveGrip allows for up to 370% more carriers per pallet, thereby reducing overall shipment costs as well as fuel consumption and the greenhouse gas footprint for the brewery.

WaveGrip carriers are recyclable, being made from LDPE, however the challenge remained to ensure that the carriers were collected for recycling. This, together with understanding the differences in recycling capabilities across states, led to the ‘Orpheus Carrier Recycle Programme’ being established.

Orpheus drinkers can now return their used carriers to any of Orpheus’s taprooms and receive an incentive off future Orpheus beer purchases for their efforts. Once a sufficient number of carriers have been returned, they are collected in bulk by WaveGrip and recycled into a diverse range of products such as decking, road paving and other types of packaging – or even more WaveGrip carriers. As part of the bpi Group, over 120,000 tonnes of plastic are currently recycled every year, minimising waste and maximising resources as part of the circular economy.

“The sustainability of WaveGrip was fundamental to our choice of carriers and has helped to significantly reduce our packaging usage,” comments Remco Bos, CEO of Orpheus Brewing.

“The final part for us was ensuring that with its recyclability we could ensure that each WaveGrip carrier was not wasted. Our Carrier Recycle Programme now delivers this and by incentivising our customers to return their carriers we have a win-win situation for both the environment and them.”

Aaron McIvor, Managing Director for WaveGrip concludes, “We know how important sustainability is to our customers and it is integral to our WaveGrip products and development. We are therefore delighted to support this initiative by Orpheus Brewing and ensure that WaveGrip carriers are collected as part of a circular approach to packaging.”

“We very much hope that this is the first step in launching a wider collection scheme in the US and will be working closely with our existing and new customers to support their initiatives in the return of used carriers in the coming months.”