Since the early days of Allagash, we’ve strived to be an environmentally and socially responsible community member. As the company gained employees, a group of sustainability-minded folks formed a “green team”. That team worked to educate customers and themselves on how to be more socially responsible. That included efforts to: support local farming, learn how to compost, reduce our water usage, and identify which materials we could and couldn’t recycle.
That last part has proven to be key. So, In the effort to help you with what we’ve learned, we’ve put together this guide on how to recycle everything related to beer: cans, caps, bottles, corks, carriers, and more.
PACKTECH CARRIERS
The sturdy plastic handles that hold your cans of beer together are from a company called Paktech. Paktech has a commitment to helping you recycle their holders, which are already made with 100% post consumer materials (think milk jugs). If returned to PakTech, they’re able to be ground up and turned into more paktechs. Unfortunately not all local recycling facilities can handle PakTech handles, due to size, shape and quantity.
Luckily, you can always bring them back to our tasting room—whether it’s from our cans or someone else’s—and we’ll bundle them up and ship them back to PakTech for you! If you’re not in Maine, you can find facilities that recycle PackTech carriers near you through the button below.
CANS
Cans are one of the most recycled materials in the world, with the average can containing 73% recycled content. All Allagash cans will be properly recycled in your local aluminum recycling stream. If not being returned for a deposit, it always benefits the recycling facility if you remove any plastic or sticker labels from the cans. (Pro tip on removing the label: Fill the can with hot water and let sit for a few minutes. This will loosen the glue right up for easy removal.) To learn more, click the button below.
GLASS BOTTLES
All Allagash bottles, whether they be 12oz, 375mL, or 750mL, can easily be recycled wherever glass is taken. Currently our 12oz bottles contain on average 60% recycled glass, so keep that recycle loop moving! We’re also a founding member of the Glass Recycling Coalition, which is aimed at making sure more glass gets properly re-used. Don’t forget to check your local municipality to see whether labels need to be removed or not. For more info on glass recycling hit the button below.
CORKS
Corks from our 750mL and 375mL bottles can be recycled through a take-back program like Recork. This program grinds the corks down to turn into footwear and yoga blocks. Another alternative is that they can be composted in a commercial compost setting. Or, you can always check your area or stop by our brewery and drop them off, we’ll recycle them for you!
METAL CAPS AND CAGES
Metal caps, like we use on our 12oz bottles, or the metal “cages” we use to hold on the corks of our 750ml bottles can be a little tricky to recycle. The metal is great for reuse, but their small size can make it difficult for the machinery in a single sort facility. Usually placing them inside a larger container of the same material will work. Or you can take them to certain scrap metal facilities and get paid! If you want to go the extra mile, check with your local facility to see what they recommend. As always, we’ll take any caps and cages and recycle them properly. (Seeing a trend here?)
CARDBOARD
All the cardboard from our 6-pack, 4-pack, and 12-pack carriers is easily recycled anywhere cardboard is taken! Our cardboard cartons contain, on average, 35.7% recycled content. This is a mix of pre and post consumer cardboard. Cardboard is also easily broken down in a commercial compost setting.
For more information on what, how and where to recycle anything, it is always best to reach out to your town or community to see what is and is not accepted. And our last pro tip: reuse materials if you can. Finding a second use for any of these materials is the quickest and most carbon-neutral way to give your recyclables a second life.
For more information on how to recycle basically anything, check out Earth 911’s “How-To-Recycle” search page through the button below.
