Corona has announced a new packaging design that replaces plastic six-pack rings with a more eco-friendly option: stackable, interlocking cans.
This innovative solution eliminates the need for pre-packaged “six-packs.” It redesigns the can itself, so that the bottom of each can screws into the top of another, allowing Corona drinkers to create a tower that can be stacked up to 10 cans high.
They call the system “Fit Packs.”
The interlocking feature is part of a company effort to use plastic-free packaging. According to Anheuser-Busch InBev Marketing Vice President Carlos Renero, the beverage industry generates over 15 million tons of plastic each year in packaging, which threatens sea life.
Many companies have made similar forays into eco-friendly packaging, but use materials that can also create waste. Guinness moved to biodegradable cardboard in April 2019; Carlberg switched to a recyclable glue in September 2018; and in November 2018, Corona tested plant-based packaging.
This new design, which was created in collaboration with advertising agency Leo Burnett, earned a Innovation Lion award on Monday at the Cannes Lions 2019 Festival of Creativity, the Oscars of the advertising world.
Currently, the new packaging system is being run as a pilot project in Mexico, but the company has plans to expand globally wherever Corona is available.
More importantly, Corona is actually Open-Sourcing their can design, so it can be used by any other beverage company. They hope that this will spur the adoption of this new technology and reduce the amount of plastic packaging harming the environment.