Six pack rings

Six pack rings

Six pack rings or six pack yokes are a set of connected plastic rings that are used in multi-packs of beverage, particularly six packs of beverage cans.

History

The six pack rings in most common use today are the descendants of an original design by ITW Hi-Cone, which first introduced them in St. Louis, Missouri in the summer of 1960.^[1] Within 10 years, plastic rings had completely replaced the paper and metal based holders then common in the market.^[1] Today several other manufacturers continue to produce six pack rings. Though interest in multi-packs has continued to grow, other variations, including paperboard baskets and HDPE plastic can carriers have grown in popularity, providing an alternative to conventional six pack rings.^[2]

Environmental concerns

Since the late 1970s,^[3] six pack rings have been cited as a particularly dangerous form of marine litter as marine wildlife used to be found entangled in the rings, sometimes strangling to death.^[4][5]

Six-pack rings are a relatively minor contributor to marine litter and wildlife fatalities. Fishing gear and other plastic wastes are a larger problem.^[6]

In pop culture

• In the Futurama episode "Obsoletely Fabulous", six ducks are trapped in the same six pack ring, who are then mistaken for beer cans by the robot Bender.
• The 2006 animated film Happy Feet features a penguin whose head is trapped in a six pack ring.
• In The Simpsons episode "The Old Man and the Lisa", Montgomery Burns attaches millions of "recycled" six-pack holders together into a net, which he uses to catch tons of sea life and make "Li'l Lisa Slurry".

References