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The beer brewing company CDM (Cervejas de Mozambique – Beers of Mozambique) is to introduce 330 cl returnable beer bottles to reduce costs and increase environmental sustainability.
According to CDM, it is expected that the new bottles will save the company about 268 million meticais (just over four million US dollars) and reduce waste by 11,500 tonnes per year.
The “Return” project, which was formally launched in Maputo on Wednesday, also aims to reduce the price to the consumer.
CDM’s managing director, Pedro Cruz, explained that the project has three main objectives: to offer the best price to consumers, to reduce the need to import glass and save foreign currency, and to cut the environmental impact of waste due non-returnable bottles.
He added, “in the initial phase of the project, we expect to reach the target of reducing our need for small bottles by 80 per cent. This would drop our glass import costs by 268 million meticais per year. One bottle can be reused 30 times”.
In addition, the price of a small bottle of beer will remain at the current recommended price of 45 meticais – but the consumer will receive ten meticais for returning the bottle.
According to the director, this is the normal practice with the larger, 550 cl beer bottles. He stressed that there is no difference in quality between the beer in the different bottles or in cans.
The new bottles are made of thicker glass and state on the neck that they are returnable. They will be sold in plastic crates as is common practice with the larger bottles.
CDM is the local subsidiary of the world’s second largest brewing company, SABMiller. It produces various brands of local beer such as 2M, Laurentina, Impala, and Chibuku. It has three factories, located in Maputo, Beira, and Nampula.
Worldwide, SABMiller has over 3.5 billion returnable beer bottles, making an enormous saving in the energy and natural resources taken in producing a new bottle every time a non-returnable beer bottle is sold.
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