6 Pack Rings Animals Need Help to Break Free from Plastic

Sea turtles are often trapped in six pack rings, which can cause them to drown or starve to death.

Six pack rings are made from plastic and are designed to hold six cans of soda together.

Many animals, including sea birds, get their heads trapped in six pack rings, which can cause them to suffocate.

Six pack rings are a major contributor to marine pollution and can also harm other marine animals like fish and dolphins.

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6-pack rings have been a common problem for over 50 years. They can be found nearly everywhere and cause a substantial amount of environmental damage.

A lot of people don't realize that 6-pack rings can have any number of rings, and they're not just limited to beer or soda cans. They're also used as packaging for aluminum drink cans.

Countless birds, turtles, marine mammals, and other wildlife are killed every year by discarded 6-pack rings. Some animals get entangled in the pack, while others mistake it for food and ingest it.

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6-pack rings can wrap around an animal's beak or muzzle, preventing them from eating. They can also tangle up their feet, wings, or fins, and young animals can get entrapped and injured as they grow.

Although an individual 6-pack ring doesn't use much petroleum, millions are produced every year. This may not seem like a lot, but it's still a waste of a valuable resource.

6-pack rings are not a major contributor to environmental pollution and wildlife mortality compared to other plastic products. However, that doesn't mean we can ignore the problem.

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The six-pack ring crisis is not as dire as it was in the 1970s, but plastic rings are still a threat to wildlife.

Some companies are turning away from plastic rings altogether to cut down on microplastics and carbon emissions.

In 2016, the beer company Salt Water Brewery announced all their six-packs of Screamin' Reels IPA would be packaged with a compostable holder termed E6PR.

The E6PR is designed to be completely compostable when thrown away and edible if it enters marine animal habitats.

It took three years and 4,000 iterations to make an adhesive that was strong enough to keep the cans together but not so strong that consumers couldn't easily pick one off.

The edible holders are more expensive to make, but Saltwater Brewery wants to set an example for other beer producers and encourage them to adopt the idea.

Cigarette butts were the biggest source of plastic pollution in 2017, with 1,863,838 collected during beach cleanups.

Biodegradable six-pack rings so safe you can actually eat them have been developed by a brewery in Florida.

Using harmless byproducts from the brewing process, they created this ingenious solution to combat dangerous plastic waste in our oceans.

The company 3-D printed a test batch of 500 holders in April and plans to scale up production to meet its current output of 400,000 cans of beer a month.

If edible holders become commonplace, they could potentially be as cheap as the regular plastic rings.

The Ocean Conservancy's 2015 report found plastic inside many species of marine animals, and that these plastics often absorb and hold on to dangerous chemicals.

Six-pack rings make up only a small percentage of the plastic we toss, but the idea of alternatives is heartening nonetheless.

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A ban on plastic can holders doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon in the US, so we need a different solution.

In 2016, a small craft beer brewery named SaltWater teamed up with fishermen, surfers, and people who just love the sea to create a biodegradable, compostable, and edible six-pack ring made from wheat and barley by-products of the brewing process.

This edible ring is a game-changer because it's safe for fish, birds, and turtles to eat, and it's made from a by-product of the brewing process, reducing waste.

The SaltWater Brewery is currently the only beer can company using these edible rings, making their beer a little pricier, but if other breweries joined them, prices would drop considerably.

Other designs for six-pack holders have emerged, such as the top-hugging holder made by PakTech, which uses more plastic but is designed to reduce the amount of other packaging materials.

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PakTech's design is favored by craft breweries for its unique look, but it's still made of plastic, which is difficult to completely eradicate from our disposable packaging.

Six-pack rings are now widely made from photo-degradable plastic, meaning they dissolve in sunlight, but this process can take up to 90 days, leaving time for wildlife to be harmed.

To cut down on microplastics and carbon emissions, some companies are turning away from plastic rings altogether, like Salt Water Brewery, which announced all their six-packs of Screamin' Reeds IPA would be packaged with a compostable holder termed E6PR.

The E6PR is designed to be completely compostable when thrown away and edible if it enters marine animal habitats, making it a much more sustainable solution.

It took three years and 4,000 iterations to make an adhesive that was strong enough to keep the cans together but not so strong that consumers couldn't easily pick one off, says Carlsberg sustainability director Simon Boas Hoffmeyer.

Each six pack will still contain a “handle” made of a thin strip of plastic affixed to the two middle beer cans, but this design will help Carlsberg avoid using 1,322 tons of plastic every year.

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Marine animals are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of 6-pack rings. Countless birds, turtles, and marine mammals are killed every year by discarded 6-pack rings.

Some animals get entangled in the pack, which wraps around their beak or muzzle, preventing them from eating, or tangles up their feet, wings, or fins. Young animals get entrapped and as they grow the 6-pack cuts into their flesh, sometimes amputating limbs or killing the animal.

Marine animals can also mistake the floating object as food and ingest it, because plastic floating on the surface of the water can resemble many edible items, such as a jellyfish or a piece of seaweed.

It's estimated that millions of 6-pack rings are produced every year, and while an individual ring doesn't use much petroleum, the cumulative impact is still significant.

A solution to the problem of six-pack rings harming animals is indeed possible.

In Germany, plastic can holders are not used, and things work just as well without them.

A small craft beer brewery in the US, SaltWater, has already come up with a biodegradable, compostable, and edible six-pack ring made from wheat and barley by-products.

This edible ring is remarkable because it can be eaten by fish, birds, and turtles, making it a safe alternative to traditional plastic rings.

The downside is that SaltWater Brewery is currently the only beer can company using these edible rings, which makes their beer a bit pricier.

If other breweries joined SaltWater in using edible rings, prices would likely drop considerably.