Carlsberg to replace plastic ring can holders with recyclable glue

A leading beer company has come up with a sticky solution to the environmental damage caused by six-pack rings and wrapping.

In what it is heralding as a world-first, Carlsberg’s new multi-pack beer cans are held together solely by glue – a move that is set to reduce the Danish brewer’s use of plastic to package the product by more than 75%.

After a three-year development process, which involved testing more than 4,000 different adhesive formulations, the company insists the dots of glue bonding its new “Snap Packs” are strong enough to withstand the journey from shelf to home, yet sufficiently brittle to break when twisted.

British beer fans will be the first to test this pledge as Carlsberg has chosen the UK market, which consumes 30% of its beer annually, to debut the eco-friendly packaging innovation.

At an official launch event in Copenhagen, inventor Christopher Stuhlmann revealed how a trip to his local DIY store helped convince him that his brainwave could become a reality.

“The starting point was going to a hardware shop and buying all the adhesive I could get, all the glue that was there,” said Mr Stuhlmann, who works for one of Carlsberg’s design partners.