Beer to Bags has teamed up with Athletic Brewing, the country’s top non-alcoholic craft brewer, to help reduce its malt bag waste.
For the unfamiliar, Athletic Brewing is a pioneering non-alcoholic brewer operating what is believed to be the largest dedicated non-alcoholic craft beer making facility in the world.
Although its brews are non-alcoholic, Athletic uses the same premium ingredients that can be found in traditional full-strength craft beer. With that steady use of grain comes the environmental issue of single-use packaging entering our landfills.
Enter Beer to Bags and our solution to address malt bag waste. We’re excited to announce a partnership with Athletic Brewing Company to minimize its malt bag waste at its headquarters in Milford, Connecticut.
Our team will facilitate quarterly pickups from Athletic Brewing’s HQ to our manufacturing facility in Texas. This partnership is one of many active and in progress efforts to consolidate malt bag waste in different regions of the US and bring them together to be upcycled into our unique products.
“I’ve been a supporter of Athletic Brewing for a while now and am so excited to see this partnership to divert their malt bags from the landfill come to fruition. My husband and I keep our fridge stocked with Athletic Brewing. It’s the perfect solution for our lifestyle. To be able to provide a valuable service to them that supports their mission is a dream come true,” says Emily Neville, our Founder and CEO.
However, this isn’t the first time Beer to Bags and Athletic Brewing have partnered up. This past Earth Day (2023), Beer to Bags produced hundreds of totes for Athletic Brewing Company’s Earth Day events around the country.
Emily connected with Athletic’s B Corp Manager, Cara Wilson for that initial project and the two have been ideating ever since.
“As a certified B Corp, partnering with Beer to Bags was an easy choice,” said Wilson. “According to a recent Greenpeace report, about 5% of plastic is actually recycled. In addition to minimizing our use of plastic through packaging whenever we can, repurposing what we cannot reduce is incredibly important. Upcycling prevents additional natural resources from being used to make ‘new’ bags. In the past, we have reused malt bags for beach clean-ups. With the help of Beer to Bags, we’re able to continue creating a positive impact on our environment.”
Through this partnership, we expect to divert upwards of 15,000 malt bags on an annual basis from Athletic Brewing’s headquarters in Milford, CT.
Some of these bags will be returned to Athletic Brewing for promotional and retail use, while others will make their way to taprooms, bottle shops, and people all over the world.
One thing is for sure – We're grateful we can offer these bags a chance at a second life.
About Athletic Brewing Company
Athletic Brewing, founded in 2017 by Bill Shufelt and John Walker, is the 13th largest craft brewer in America and the leading producer of non-alcoholic craft beer. The company’s brews are distributed in all 50 states and available at over 50,000 retail stores nationwide. In 2023, Athletic was ranked as the 4th fastest-growing company in the Americas by Financial Times. Athletic was also ranked as the fastest-growing U.S. beverage manufacturer by Inc. Magazine in 2022, and named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential Companies.” The company has won over 75 prestigious brewing awards, including Gold & Silver for its Run Wild and Free Wave IPAs in the 2022 US Open of Beer Championship. It was also named the North American Brewer of the Year at the 2022 International Beer Challenge. Athletic has custom breweries in Milford, Connecticut, and San Diego, and donates up to $2 million annually to protecting and restoring outdoor spaces across the globe via its Two For The Trails program. Athletic Brewing is proudly a Certified B Corporation™. Its full-flavored near beers and hop-infused sparkling waters are available on www.athleticbrewing.com. Follow Athletic Brewing on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube