Unsaleable doesn’t necessarily mean waste in the traditional sense. There are a number of reasons why beverage inventory may need to be taken off the market, but that doesn’t mean these products need to be sent straight to the landfill without a second thought.

In fact, that mindset could be standing in the way of beverage companies and retailers achieving their sustainability goals.

Keep reading to learn how you can increase landfill diversion through recovery solutions for both beverage packaging and liquids.

The Sustainability Problem with Sending Full Beverages to Landfill

When we discuss waste and where garbage goes, the unfortunate reality is that it often ends up in landfills or at dump sites.

And while landfills are a last resort for waste that can’t be recovered, they shouldn’t be the first line of defense. Sending waste to landfills contributes to pollution, local habitat destruction, and greenhouse gas emissions. A recent review of landfill emissions by ScienceDirect notes that “Landfill gases contribute to climate change, while odors affect local air quality.”

The goal?

Reducing landfill exposure. However, unsaleable beverage inventory requires specialized processing to recover materials that might otherwise be lost.

How Beverage Recovery Gives Materials a Second Life

When full beverage products are handled properly, they have a greater opportunity to be recycled or recovered for beneficial use. 

Let’s take a look at the role of depackaging and the opportunities for liquid and packaging recovery.

Separating the Liquid from the Packaging

We can’t talk about beverage material recovery without discussing depackaging. Depackaging equipment separates liquids from cans, bottles, and other beverage containers.

This is key to material recovery, as it allows liquids and packaging to be processed separately according to their characteristics. This maximizes recovery and opens the door to the following steps.

Turning Packaging into Recycled Material

Many beverages come in packaging made from recyclable materials, including aluminum, PET, and glass. When these materials are separated from the liquids in the above step, they can be sent to the appropriate recycling facilities.

This is a great way to keep materials in circulation rather than relying on the linear “take, make, waste” model.

Take aluminum, for example. Making recycled aluminum only takes around 5% of the energy needed to make new aluminum, thereby reducing carbon emissions and energy costs.

This is a great incentive for businesses to incorporate recycled aluminum into their packaging and support a more circular approach to material use. But this is just one example, as other beverage packaging materials can also be recovered and recycled for future use.

Finding Beneficial Uses for the Beverage Liquid

With packaging handled, the next step is to evaluate what’s possible with the liquid waste. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, as the specific solution depends on the composition of the beverage liquid, including the type of beverage, whether it contains alcohol, and the volume of waste.

That said, there are various options available, including anaerobic digestion, ethanol recovery, and other organics recovery pathways.

Rather than treating the liquid solely as waste, these solutions can help recover value from it. For example, anaerobic digestion can convert organic material into biogas, while qualifying beverages may be processed to recover ethanol for beneficial use.

Building a More Circular Approach to Unsaleable Inventory

Anyone in the food and beverage industry should consider how to keep materials in circulation longer. As explained by the EPA, “A circular economy reduces material use, redesigns materials and products to be less resource intensive, and recaptures “waste,” or material that was previously considered to be a waste, as a resource that can serve as feedstock to manufacture new materials and products.”

As companies move away from the traditional linear model and adopt a more sustainable business approach, there are two main things to consider: how to recover materials from waste streams and how to prevent waste in the first place.

For the first point, we covered the possibilities above, which include recovering beverage liquids and packaging where possible. However, it’s also important to consider how you can set your waste management strategy up for success. What do we mean by this?

Preventing waste at the source is one part of the equation. Another is considering how product and packaging design can make materials easier to recover at the end of their life. Eco-Products is a great example of this, having released a lineup of beverage cups that includes compostable, recyclable, and reusable options.

Together, these practices support a more circular approach where fewer resources are discarded and more have the opportunity to remain in use.

Long-Term Benefits of Reducing Beverage Waste

Implementing company-wide changes, such as adopting a new waste management strategy, can be intimidating. But when we consider the long-term benefits of greater sustainability, it becomes clear why these efforts are worthwhile.

These benefits can be broken down into three categories:

• Environmental: It’s no secret that diverting waste from landfills has an array of environmental benefits. This includes conserving resources, reducing the amount of land needed for waste disposal, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Reputation: There’s a growing population of eco-conscious consumers. By reducing waste at the source and keeping materials in circulation, you can demonstrate your commitment to responsible business practices and respond to changing consumer expectations. This can strengthen your brand reputation and potentially create new business opportunities.
• Economic: Recycling materials can result in economic gains. For instance, recycling aluminum packaging can help retain the value of recovered materials and reduce reliance on virgin resources. Or, if you send organic waste to an anaerobic digestion facility, you can create additional economic value through outputs such as biogas and digestate.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we discussed the various ways to turn unsaleable waste into a recycling opportunity. But what we want to stress is that not every strategy will look the same.

What works for one company may not work for another, and that’s okay. What’s important is that every company does its part, whether that’s sending organic waste to an anaerobic digestion facility, recycling packaging materials, or finding ways to incorporate recovered materials back into its own operations.

So ask yourself: Can you recycle more of your packaging? What waste management strategy would benefit your company and its sustainability goals?