Beer makers are running low on bottles as coronavirus shutdown stops recycling returns – By Jake Edmiston (Financial Post) / March 31 2020
At the same time wave of panic buying boosted demand
With recycling programs suspended around the country due to coronavirus fears, one of Canada’s largest beer brewers says it is struggling to find enough bottles to keep up with production.
In mid-March, Ontario’s beer retailing behemoth, The Beer Store, announced it would stop accepting empties from March 19 to March 31 in an effort to protect employees from being exposed to the coronavirus. The suspension expired Tuesday, but the chain of 450 stores didn’t respond to questions about whether it would resume collecting used bottles and cans, though it said on its website that new information on its recycling program was pending.
Combined with other recycling programs around the country, including B.C. Liquor Stores, also being on pause, the supply of industry standard beer bottles has decreased significantly just as a wave of panic buying boosted demand, said John Sleeman, founder of Sleeman Breweries, Canada’s third-biggest brewer.
“We don’t have enough bottles in our plants to run at normal levels,” he said. “But we’re still producing beer. We still have bottles, just not as many as we would like.”
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