FlexiDraft™ by Micro Matic

[@visualvapor]

And what about all the single use plastic waste? Environmental nightmare.

[@MicroMaticCorporate]

Hi Tim, Thanks for your comment. In order for small and medium sized outlets to serve draft beer in high quality, regular cleaning (minimum every 5-6 days) and maintenance is a must. The used resources for cleaning (use of water and chemicals, transportation of line cleaning team, etc.) is - due to a often low keg rotation - high pr. served glass of beer. To overcome this negative environmental footprint, Micro Matic has developed the FlexiDraft system which - by the use of a single use beer line - completely eliminates the need for cleaning. The single use beer line is made of recyclable plastics (polypropylene, polythene, polypropylene and polyoxymethylene) and can be disposed off as normal household waste. For an even more sustainable disposal, the single use beer line can be separated into the spout/coupler part and the tubing. The latter can be disposed off as plastic waste depending on local collection and recycling infrastructure. So yes, you will use a single use plastic tube but you will save the environmental footprint of the traditional cleaning process. All in all, the total environmental footprint of a draft beer system is a complicated calculation, but if the beer line of FlexiDraft is disposed off as prescribed above FlexiDraft is absolutely an environmentally responsible solution.

[@visualvapor]

@@MicroMaticCorporate While I appreciate your detailed answer, I am curious to know what part of the "traditional" footprint from the cleaning process your method saves us all from? All line cleaners I have ever used are 100% environmentally friendly and 100% biodegrade.

[@MicroMaticCorporate]

@@visualvapor Hi Tim, I am not sure what you mean by stating that line cleaners/line cleaning is 100% environmentally friendly? There is definitely an environmental footprint both from transportation and chemicals used. It is a complicated task to compare the footprint of a classic installation and a FlexiDraft installation. Which has the least footprint, a piece of plastic or 30 miles of driving? And is CO2 reduction more important than plastic waste - or vice versa? We don't have all the answers to this, but under the assumption that the single-use beer line is disposed off in a responsible way, FlexiDraft will in most cases proof to be the most sustainable way of dispensing draft beer.

[@MicroMaticCorporate]

@@visualvapor Hi Tim, I am not sure what you mean by stating that line cleaners/line cleaning is 100% environmentally friendly? There is definitely an environmental footprint both from transportation and chemicals used. It is a complicated task to compare the footprint of a classic installation and a FlexiDraft installation. Which has the least footprint, a piece of plastic or 30 miles of driving? And is CO2 reduction more important than plastic waste - or vice versa? We don't have all the answers to this, but under the assumption that the single-use beer line is disposed off in a responsible way, FlexiDraft will in most cases proof to be the most sustainable way of dispensing draft beer.

[@visualvapor]

@@MicroMaticCorporate I think this conversation is going to end without resolution. If you're going to start citing manufacturing and transportation carbon emissions on behalf of the biodegradable chemical cleaner, then I'm going to have to point out to you that the one time use plastic your advocating for is worse. Plastic is a petrochemical product. The carbon footprint which you point out, from producing petrolium "oil and gas", then the additional manufacturing of the plastic is far greater than traditional line cleaning. Plus the disposal of plastic to our land fill? If you honestly look a the the processes end to end, standard line cleaning is the more environmentally responsible option.