BARNARD, Vt. (WCAX) – Plastic can carriers often get mistaken for paper in recycling sorting machines. To prevent the mishap, one man is collecting them throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
On his front lawn in Barnard, Ben Kogan sorts beer-can carriers by color to sell back to local breweries at a discount.
“I thought, ‘Why couldn’t we just collect these things, get them back to brewers, and wash and reuse them?’” said Kogan.
The first step of the process starts when you buy a four-pack from your local brewery. Once you drink the whole thing, Kogan has set up spots where you can drop them off.
If you have one of these can carriers, you can bring it to your local food co-op in Middlebury, Morrisville, Montpelier, Lebanon, White River Junction, or Hanover. You can also bring it to breweries like Switchback or Black Flannel. You just put them in the marked bins.
“You’re really helping the environment by participating in it,” said Kogan.
Kogan comes and picks up the carriers, taking them to Fable Farm, where they are washed.
At Fable Farm, they dunk the carriers in sani-water with phosphoric acid, do a quick rinse, and set them out to dry. Kogan picks them up, sorts them, and then sells them. Then, they get sold back to you.
“It saves us a little bit of money getting into a reuse program, instead of buying brand new every single time,” said Mark Babson of River Roost Brewery.
Kogan wants more breweries to get involved. If you’re interested, visit the Reusable Solutions website.
