Beverage
AB InBev is a global brewer. Its 2025 Annual Report says 89.7% of its products were in returnable packaging or made from majority recycled content in 2025, short of its 2017 goal of 100% by 2025, mainly because of limited recycled PET supply. Returnable packaging was 40.4% and more than 99% of primary packaging is recyclable.
Formats and materials the company itself reports using, in its own reporting. No pack specifications, volumes or supplier names beyond what it has published.
| Format | Material | What the company reports |
|---|---|---|
| Bottles, cans, kegs, crates, labels | Glass, PET, aluminium, steel, plastic, paper | Packaging materials used include glass, PET and aluminum bottles, aluminum or steel cans, kegs, labels and plastic crates; the company says it has a limited number of suppliers of aluminum cans and glass bottles1 |
| All primary packaging | Mixed | 89.7% of products were in packaging that was returnable or made from majority recycled content in 20256 |
| Can | Aluminium | 1 liter can and Corona full-open lid can launched in 2025 as packaging innovations6 |
| Cans | Metal | Owns US-based metal container plants; completed reacquisition of the 49.9% minority stake for USD 2.9 billion in HY20268 |
| Returnable glass bottle, keg | Glass, steel | About 38% of global volume sold in returnable glass bottles (2022 data); returnable defined as kegs and returnable glass bottles12 |
| Can | Aluminium, recycled | Average recycled content of the can portfolio more than 50% (2022 data)12 |
| All | Mixed | Packaging represented 42.5% of value chain emissions (2022 data)12 |
| Crate | Plastic, recycled | Corona crate made with more than 90% recycled material including marine plastic (Germany, 2022 data)12 |
| Glass bottle recovery | Glass | Rebounce glass bottle recovery project in Mexico worked with 90 collectors to recover more than 350 million bottles (2022 data)12 |
| Mix | Not stated | In South Korea, negative packaging mix reduced revenue per hl in 2Q268 |
Reporting scope: The circular packaging KPI covers products in packaging that is returnable or made from majority (more than 50%) recycled content. The 2025 annual report with the full packaging disclosures could not be fetched (host blocks automated access), so 2025 detail beyond the headline KPI is not reproduced here.6
Targets and progress are taken from each company's own published reports, with a quote and a link on its page. Status shows met or missed only where the company has reported the result. No contacts, purchase volumes, supplier relationships or pack specifications are listed.
Latest reported: 89.7% (2025)
From the source“In 2025, 89.7% of the company's products were in returnable packaging or made from majority recycled content (more than 50%).”
AB InBev – 2025 Annual Report (linked from this page), pp. 43 and 177-178
From the source“reduce absolute emissions across its value chain by more than 35% versus 2017”
AB InBev – AB InBev Publishes 2030 Sustainability Goals · May 2026
Every packaging and supply-chain commitment the company has published, with its baseline and the latest progress it reports. Status says met or missed only where the company states the result.
| Commitment | By | Baseline | Latest reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Sustainability Goals (set 2018)100% of products in packaging that is returnable or made from majority recycled content6 | 2025 | 77% (2022) | 89.7% (2025) | Missed |
| 2030 Sustainability GoalsReduce absolute emissions across the value chain by more than 35% versus 20179Packaging was 42.5% of value chain emissions in 2022 (s12), so can, glass and PET suppliers sit inside this target (SPI note) | 2030 | 2017 | Not reported | In progress |
Completed the reacquisition of the 49.9% minority stake in its US-based metal container plants for USD 2.9 billion (reported in HY2026 cash flow).8
Published 2030 sustainability goals covering agriculture, water, and energy and emissions (value chain emissions more than 35% below 2017); packaging is not a stand-alone 2030 goal.9
Form 20-F for 2025 lists glass, PET and aluminium bottles, cans, kegs, labels and plastic crates as packaging materials and notes a limited number of can and glass bottle suppliers.1
FY2025 results: 2018 sustainability goals closed; 89.7% of products in returnable or majority recycled content packaging; 1 liter can and Corona full-open lid can cited as packaging innovations.6
SPI analysis Our reading of the sourced facts above. Not company-reported, not legal advice.
Basis: Presence is taken from the 20-F (s1, s2, s4), the fully consolidated companies table as far as it could be read (s5, which stopped at France), the JSE listing7 and brands named in the results release6. Rule IDs are from the SPI Regulation Tracker. Applicability is SPI's reading of each rule against a beer and beverage maker using glass, cans, PET and kegs; it is not legal advice and does not state actual liability. With products sold in over 150 countries, presence in most tracker jurisdictions is likely but was not confirmed.
| Jurisdiction | Rules in the Regulation Tracker |
|---|---|
| European UnionFully consolidated company in France5; EMEA segment revenue USD 9,502 million in 20252; headquarters in Belgium1 |
As a beverage maker, PPWR reuse targets for beverages, deposit-return collection targets, tethered caps and recycled content in PET bottles all bear on its glass, can and PET formats. |
| GermanyNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Applies if the company places packaged beer on the German market; German presence not evidenced here. |
| FranceAB InBev France S.A.S., Lille5 | |
| SpainNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). |
Plastic tax applies only to non-reusable plastic packaging (PET bottles, shrink film) placed on the Spanish market. |
| AustriaNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Beverage deposit rule relevant if cans or PET are sold in Austria. |
| IrelandNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Beverage DRS relevant if cans or PET are sold in Ireland. |
| PortugalNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| PolandNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Polish DRS also covers glass. |
| United KingdomNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). |
Drinks DRS (England and Northern Ireland from October 2027; Scotland October 2027) covers PET and cans, not glass. |
| United StatesUnited States net revenue USD 12,376 million in 20254; Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC named as subsidiary guarantor15; US metal container plants8 |
California AB 793 recycled content applies to plastic beverage containers with CRV; most volume is cans and glass. State EPR laws may exempt or treat beverage containers differently where deposit systems exist; not checked. |
| CanadaLabatt Brewing Company Limited, Toronto5 |
Provincial beverage container deposit systems are outside the tracker list. |
| IndiaNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). |
Plastic EPR applies only to plastic packaging placed on the Indian market. |
| ChinaAnheuser-Busch InBev (China) Sales Company Limited, Wuhan5; Harbin and Sedrin named as local champions6 |
GB 23350-2021 covers food including beverages; applicability to beer gift packs not checked. |
| JapanNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| AustraliaNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Proposed scheme only. |
| New ZealandNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Tracker rules are single-use item phase-outs; no direct match. |
| VietnamNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| PhilippinesNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| IndonesiaNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| ChileCerveceria Chile S.A., Santiago5 | |
| ColombiaBavaria & Cia S.C.A., Bogota5; Aguila named as local champion6 | |
| BrazilAmbev S.A., Sao Paulo5; Brazil net revenue USD 8,766 million in 20254 | |
| KenyaNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | |
| South AfricaSecondary listing on the JSE7 and Castle and Castle Lite named as local champions6; no South African entity confirmed in the sources fetched | |
| United Arab EmiratesNot confirmed in the sources fetched (the full subsidiary list in the 20-F could not be read). | Dubai rule targets single-use bags, cups and cutlery; no direct match. |
Plastic taxes: Plastic taxes in the tracker that can apply: UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PR-GB-001) and Spain's non-reusable plastic packaging tax (PR-ES-001), for PET bottles, shrink film and other plastic components, where the company places them on those markets. Glass, cans and returnable packaging are outside both taxes. The EU plastic own resource (PR-EU-017) is paid by Member States.
SPI analysis Our reading of the sourced facts above. Not company-reported, not legal advice.
AB InBev is one of the largest buyers of beverage cans, glass bottles, kegs and crates. It missed its 2025 circular packaging goal (89.7% against 100%) and did not set a separate packaging goal for 2030, so packaging work now sits under its value chain emissions target of more than 35% below 2017. Packaging was 42.5% of value chain emissions in 2022, which points demand toward low-carbon and high recycled content aluminium, lighter and returnable glass, and recovery of returnable bottles. The company has brought its US can plants fully back in house, which suggests can-making in the US is less open to outside suppliers, while aluminium sheet and coil suppliers remain relevant. Deposit return schemes in the EU, UK and elsewhere, PPWR reuse targets for beverages and tethered caps all add demand for formats that fit those systems. No current supply contracts are disclosed; past named partners are from a 2023 climate article, so this describes demand signals, not who supplies.
What the sources reviewed do not show, or what we could not confirm. Know something we have missed? Tell the SPI team and we will check it.
Targets in the register above link to their own source. Facts are summarised in the SPI team's words; quotes are marked.
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