Company creates six-pack rings that are edible for sea animals

A Florida brewery has introduced a solution to plastic six-pack rings that cause damage to marine life.

The Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Fla., introduced six-pack rings made of wheat and barley that can either biodegrade or serve as a hearty treat for wildlife.

The brewery developed the rings with start-up company E6PR after years of research, and is now seeing the products appear in stores throughout South Florida.

The two businesses are hoping other breweries will eventually buy the new rings, NOLA.com reports. 

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The outlet also reported E6PR is currently testing the edible rings with a select group of craft breweries.

According to research conducted by Louisiana State University last year, the Gulf of Mexico is home to one of the highest concentrations of plastic reported in the world. 

“It was a surprise,” Mark Benfield, an LSU oceanographer who led the survey into the amount and types of plastic in the gulf, told NOLA back in August. “I didn’t expect that the gulf would have as much plastic as it did.” 

Each net dipped into the gulf by Benfield’s team came up filled with plastic. “We found it every time,” Benfield said.