Beer and beverage company Molson Coors announced today an $85 million investment aimed at enabling Coors Light to eliminate plastic rings from its packaging globally, and begin the transition to fully recyclable and sustainably sourced cardboard-wrap carriers this year.

The new packaging will debut this week at Coors Light’s “super sustainable” pop-up concept store in New York City, “Plastic-Free Future Mart by Coors Light,” which is focused on a vision for a world with no single-use plastics.

Marcelo Pascoa, Vice President of Marketing for the Coors Family of Brands, said:

“We believe that buying beer shouldn’t mean buying plastic. That’s why we’re taking a step toward making packaging even more sustainable, and with this achievement Coors Light will save 400,000 pounds of single-use plastic from becoming waste every year.”

According to Molson Coors, the announcement advances the achievement of its sustainability commitments, which includes goals to ensure that packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable, and consumer-facing plastic packaging is made from at least 30% recycled content by the end of 2025. The company has already removed plastic rings across all major brands sold in the UK, and moved to more sustainable plastic rings as a first step in Canada.

The investment will also allow Molson Coors’ entire North American portfolio of brands to advance to cardboard wrap carriers by the end of 2025, and is anticipated to save 1.7 million pounds of plastic waste annually.

Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley, said:

“Our business, and Coors in particular, has a long history of using packaging innovation to protect our environment, and today we are building on that rich legacy. Just as Coors led the way by pioneering the recyclable aluminum can, Coors Light will lead the way by moving out of single-use plastic rings in North America.”