In early 2019, Highland Brewing — a family-owned
craft brewery in Asheville, NC — faced a dilemma: The plastic packaging it
used to bind its beers was no longer accepted at many recycling facilities. To
meet the expectations of its environmentally conscious and outdoors-oriented
local customer base, the company needed to find a new solution.
This wasn’t the only problem Highland Brewing was trying to solve. At the time,
the company was also looking for ways to reduce plastic use overall within its
facility, as well as increase efficiency in operations to be more cost-effective
and conserve resources.
Plastic waste and resource conservation are growing issues globally. As a
sustainability-focused packaging solutions provider,
WestRock has many customers — including Highland
Brewing — that are looking for ways to phase out less sustainable materials in
their packaging and reduce emissions in their operations without sacrificing
productivity.
It might seem like a tall order, but one solution to all these challenges is
actually quite simple: automation.
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Automation isn’t a novel concept — corporations have been capitalizing on the
efficiency that automated machinery offers for years. However, the
solutions
coming to market today have vast sustainability benefits for both companies and
their consumers. They enable optimal use of labor, materials and resources for
packaging, which in turn reduce waste and cost. As one of the only providers of
both packaging and automation, the value proposition is heightened by addressing
sustainability and efficiency at both ends of the spectrum.
Between April 2019 and May 2021, Highland Brewing saved 1.3 million plastic
wraps with the introduction of both paperboard packaging and automation,
equating to 63,000 pounds of plastic kept out of the waste stream.
Fiber first
Many of our customers, as a first step, are examining fiber as a more
sustainable packaging option. And there’s good reason for that. According to a
survey
conducted by Consumer Brands/Ipsos in July 2021, 84 percent of US
shoppers are concerned about plastic and packaging
waste.
Highland Brewing was experiencing the direct impact of this concern from its
customer base.
The adoption of fiber-based, sustainably sourced materials can help companies
achieve their environmental goals and meet new consumer expectations. It also
helps them avoid their packaging becoming branded
trash
— which is a disservice to the reputation of a brand and its products, and
distasteful to those who run into it on the street or in nature. By using
fiber-based materials, companies give their customers the agency to bypass the
waste bin for the blue bin.
To make this shift, companies can begin with small
swaps
— such as choosing fiber-based packaging one product or system at a time. In
Highland’s case, we first worked with them to replace their 12-oz can plastic
packaging with paperboard cartons, making it one of the first breweries in North
Carolina to implement the use of paperboard. This swap, aided by an automated
system, made its packaging process easier and more resource efficient.
Small things should come in small packages ...
... But in practice, this isn’t always the case. When products are mismatched
for their boxes, ecommerce companies waste
resources
and consumers get frustrated. Further, these oversized packages take up
unnecessary space in transport, leading to higher shipping costs and increased
emissions.
This doesn’t need to be the reality. Recent advances in packaging automation
have yielded solutions
that help manufacturers and distributors select the right sized box for every
product, every time. The operational efficiency of these machines, coupled with
the reduced weight and size of the packaged products, make for a cost-effective,
more sustainable solution to customers’ packaging challenges.
Optimization for efficiency means fewer emissions & wasted materials
Automation also has the benefit of allowing companies to optimize the resources
used during production, helping reduce total electricity, water and material
usage. Because improved efficiency was also one of Highland Brewing’s packaging
goals, we worked with them to implement a high-speed
Brewpack cartoner
produced by WestRock and Switchback. The efficiencies found with the new
system extended beyond operational productivity.
"We’re now saving a lot of time in operation, which reduces water usage and CO2
emissions,” said Highland President and CEO Leah Wong Ashburn. “By adding
the system to our lines, we’ve also been able to reduce our material waste."
These solutions also make a tangible difference for customers seeking to
maximize efficiencies in their lines. Combined processing
systems
make it possible to produce more sustainable packaging alternatives faster
through streamlining, tackling a multi-step or multi-machine process all at
once. The efficiencies gained can translate into reduced emissions and overall
cost reductions through material and labor savings.
Looking forward
We all have a part to play in creating a more sustainable future. Through
product innovation and technology advances, the packaging industry can be a
critical component in working toward a world without waste and a truly circular
economy.
By leveraging automated systems, we can streamline and expedite our efforts.
“Back in 2019, we had three dumpsters and one recycling bin,” Ashburn says.
“Now, we have three recycling bins and one dumpster.”
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Published Sep 27, 2021 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST