Peeling the labels off beer cans

That’s dedication!

 

I've read numerous articles about it (some, I'm sure, linked in some of the posts that make up the 9 pages of this thread) as well as seeing some brewers printing it right on the can labels.

According to Crown Cork (one of the largest manufacturer of beer cans in the US):

Local company's new on-can printing makes recycling beer cans easier

 

Interesting. Since the recyclers I've used in MI read the bar code on the label (Usually Meijers), how do you get your deposit back if you peel the label off?

 

Great article. Thanks for sharing it. So small brewers have an alternative to plastic sleeves
cans with small batch printed cans and brewers using plastic aren’t just polluting the environment with plastic, they are also contaminating the aluminum preventing it from being recycled. If that doesn’t make a case for brewers switching away from plastic sleeves, then it should make a case for consumers to switch away from brewers who don’t.

 

I've been taking crushed cans to the recycling center for cash for many years and have not removed a single label. I was never told this was an issue.
I'll be damned if I'm going to spend the time, effort and hot water to do so. Should it come down to that, I would just not buy cans with plastic labels. If more people did that, maybe they would switch to paper labels?
I gave up on collecting bottles/cans long ago. I never got into soaking off the labels to save for future flashbacks. That reminds me too much of the old days of home brewing before I had a draft system.
I had so many cases of assorted beer bottles from the 80's & 90's that I got the shits of & just threw them all into the recycling bin.
They were just taking up space and in the way. I had some cool and unusual ones displayed on a shelf, but got tired of dusting the damn things!
The older you get, the more stuff you realize that you no longer want or need.
Maybe I should have peeled the labels to stick in a book that I would never look at? Nah.

 

I wasn't clear enough - I take all of them back for the deposit except for the ones that I buy at Michigan breweries because these beers aren't in distro (and I won't be back there again), plus the ones that I buy out of state that aren't available in Michigan (and I may not have paid a deposit anyway). Those exceptions are the ones that I peel and recycle at the curb and lose my 10¢.

 

Do grocery stores even take back cans/bottles if there is no deposit? (I don't know whether Massachusetts has a deposit law.) Seems like all recycling would strictly be residential curbside in states without a deposit law. (And unfortunately that's voluntary, which causes many cans/bottles to go to the landfill.)

I just reread your post and think I missed your point, so ignore my comment above. In states with a deposit law the grocery stores (and other retailers) have to take them back, and if the plastic sleeve is an issue, that's now somebody else's problem.

 

Out of nearly ALL of the Chicago breweries that start with blank cans. Their labels are among the easiest to remove from cans, and probably the least shitty to the environment in comparison to those shiny foil things nearly every single other brewery of a certain size, or does a limited run, or their BA beers uses. They DO also use mobile canning EXCLUSIVELY for now. I pity everyone on cold side the day they get a canning line they can call their own.
I think IBW is the other brewery that has those plastic labels that you just poke a knife under and pull off. Which makes sense cos it pops their graphic design style a lot better.
Which breweries use paper labels on cans?

 

It’s not foil, it’s silver plastic.

Enjoy

 

That Flavor Nuggets label is what the majority of Chicago breweries currently use. It's annoying to pull. Leaves residue. And is rejected by recycling.
The Nectaron label is different, and I would hesitate in putting those sort of things out in the wild where condensation on the can is a fact of their life. That looks like a tap room only sort of thing.

 

I’ve peeled a few hundred labels over the decades and stored them in a box. I usually just fill up a sink with very warm water. Let them soak for a while. Then use a razor blade to start removing unless the can easily be peeled off. Dry them off after removing more glue from the backs. Then place them inside an old paperback and press them flat with other books. Wait to dry a few days and done.

 

Revolution Brewing in the last few months have started digital printing (https://hartprint.com/) onto cans for some of their limited releases, in place of sleeved or labeling cans individually. It was mentioned in this post within the GL forum. Their digitally printed labels look sharp and a great bonus for consumers who do try to rip off the plastic labels when present.

 

why would a company care if we take labels off of the cans or bottles? Now I have to find a way to cut up a can and flatten it out to save instead.

 

Taking the label off is for recycling purposes from a consumer perspective, not necessarily related to the company. Sorry if I wasn't clear there. The digital printing seems to be a win-win for breweries and consumers in the sense that for breweries, apparently from a packaging perspective there are tons more headaches for the brewery sleeving or labeling cans individually as per the linked post in my prior post (actually the Rev rep's comment on this was a post or two further down from the linked post). And consumers no longer have any need to remove sleeved or plastic adhesive labels, should they typically do this when they are present on the packaging.

 

Read the 1st post and page in this thread…

 

Alright...