Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) is to invest more than £10m in upgrading equipment at its Northampton Brewery, increasing capacity for producing its Snap Pack packaging and reducing its water usage.
The investments will see three significant upgrades realised, with all three set to go live in Q1 next year; a second-generation machine for packaging cans in Snap Pack is being installed, alongside a new laser can encoder and an improved can filler and seamer.
First launched in 2018, Snap Pack uses innovative glue dot technology to hold cans together, removing the need for plastic rings and making multipacks more sustainable. Snap Pack was co-developed by Carlsberg Group and KHS GmbH, an international manufacturer of filling and packaging equipment.
This technology has been used across some of the best-known and most popular beers in CMBC’s portfolio, including Carlsberg Danish Pilsner, San Miguel, Birrificio Angelo Poretti and Brooklyn Pilsner.
By the end of 2022, Snap Pack was used for 65% of the four- and six-can multipacks produced at the brewery. The new second-generation Snap Pack machine will allow double the number of Snap Pack multipacks to be produced, with the company aiming to fully transition by the end of 2024.
By eliminating plastic rings from packaging, once fully rolled out across four- and six-can multipacks it is estimated that Snap Pack will reduce CMBC’s plastic usage by up to 76%, compared to previous multipacks.
The replacement KHS can filler, which will be attached to a new seamer from Ferrum, and a Domino Laser Can Coder are also being installed, bringing a number of improvements across efficiency and safety. Combined, these new machines alone will see an estimated reduction of around 10% in water usage, around 18 million litres every year – equivalent to more than seven Olympic-size swimming pools or almost 32 million pints.
Paul Davies, CEO, CMBC, said: “We take our responsibility as a brewer very seriously and ensuring we reduce our impact on the planet is a hugely important part of this. This major investment of more than £10m in Northampton demonstrates our clear commitments to eliminating packaging waste, reducing water waste, and improving efficiency at our breweries.
“By taking ambitious action now, we can deliver on our sustainability goals and enable even more of our innovative Snap Pack multipacks to make their way to consumers.”