Food and drink packaging from seaweed and animal hides, beer six-pack rings, mouse ears for humans, vehicle pigments, carbon fiber for building materials, hempcrete, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of April 8th

#4 Craft brewers eager to adopt biobased packaging

In Mexico, E6PR (Eco Six Pack Ring) is gaining traction for its biodegradable six-pack beer packaging.

Since being launched in 2018, the rings have been used by craft brewers in Australia, South Africa, Poland, Scotland, and the US.

“The innovation behind our can ring is the redesign of packaging, manufactured with natural fibers which are biodegradable and compostable,” Ricardo Mulás, the company’s chief financial officer, tells Forbes, “where if discarded properly it will make its way to a compost facility and compost or if incorrectly thrown into the wilderness it will biodegrade.”

While technically edible, the company says the rings are best composted. “It’s not food,” Mulás says. “Proper disposal should be in the compost or organic bin where it should find its way to a compost facility and compost or if thrown in the trash and ends up in a landfill it should biodegrade.”
More on the story, here.