Non-profit 'Craft for Climate' boosting sustainability with beer carrier recycling
CHICAGO (CBS) – In celebration of the weekend, you may want to crack a cold one.
But what if you can have a beer and do something positive for the environment at the same time? CBS 2's Jackie Kostek spoke with a non-profit that helps make sure those beer holders are recycled properly.
When we talk about climate change, we often talk about its effect on weather, infrastructure, the animal habitats. But one suburban man is tackling the issue by making one of his favorite industries more sustainable - craft beer.
"These are the can carriers that a lot of craft beer come in. They're made of highly recyclable plastic, but the problem is, they don't often get recycled, even when people put them into recycling bins."
That's Alex Parker. A year ago this week, he started Craft for Climate, a non-profit that helps make it easier for craft breweries across Chicago to recycle their Paktek beer holders.
He says because the PakTek tops are small and flimsy - they often don't make it through the recycling manufacturers' process. He estimates about 90% of the holders that people attempt to recycle still end up in the landfill.
So far, Craft for Climate is working with 50 local breweries, including Half Acre up in Ravenswood - which now serves as a hub for other craft breweries to drop off their recycling too.
"We do all we can to avoid putting things in single-stream recycling," said Layne Frost, Senior Supply Chain Manager at Half Acre Beer Company. "We bale our cardboard, our shrink wrap, our grain bags. We have the ability to do that, and we think it's important that we step up and do that."
Again, the non-profit is helping to make sure that those holders end up recycled and not in a landfill.