Moving towards net zero: Robinsons Brewery and AD Circular
Collaboration is key to reaching our shared climate goals. At Avery Dennison, we focus not only on reducing the environmental impact of our own operations, but on supporting our supply chain partners to reduce their impacts as well.
One of the many ways we do this is with AD Circular, our pioneering program which enables the recycling of used PET and glassine label liners in countries across Europe. We collect used liners and work with trusted partners to recycle and transform them into high-value items, working together to create a circular economy where nothing goes to waste.
One of our program partners is Robinsons Brewery, a UK-based, independent family brewer of beloved beers like the classic Unicorn premium ale and Old Tom strong ale. At their Unicorn Packaging Centre in Bredbury, UK, they cask and keg their own brews and also bottle products for other brands, producing around 20 million bottles per year.
We spoke with Rick Fisher, their Packaging Manager, and Isabelle Masters, their Retail Environmental Champion, about the impact AD Circular has had on their sustainability initiatives and goals.
Describe the Robinsons approach to sustainability.
From the beginning, our core values have promoted the longevity of our future generations. This naturally has transferred into our sustainability approach, through fostering practices and policies that not only improve environmental well-being, but also the social and economic systems within our family network. We acknowledge that there may be many obstacles on the road to net zero, but we will continue to develop appropriate strategies and adapt where necessary to meet our 2040 goals.
Why did you join AD Circular? What problems were you facing?
We are constantly working on our consumption of energy and resource use. For example, we have reduced our glass bottle thickness, resulting in less raw material input and enhanced fuel efficiency per load for product distribution. In this case, we did a site review of our materials and their disposal, which made it clear we had to change some of our disposal methods, including for our used PET liners.
After quite some research and tips from our partners The Label Makers, we found that Avery Dennison, with its aligned values and ambitious goals for the future, was the perfect fit to help us recycle our used label liners. Working with AD circular gives us the ability to divert our used PET liners from landfill and contribute to creating a circular economy. We deemed this an unmissable opportunity to reduce our scope 3 emissions.
