A US brewery's ambitious plan to clean up the environment has inspired the creation of the world's first mass produced edible and biodegradable six-pack rings.

Since the 1980s the plastic six-pack rings used around the world to hold cans of beer together have been a scourge on marine life and birds, with countless animals dying after becoming trapped in them.

Using a combination of wheat and barley, Florida's Saltwater Brewery have developed a fully biodegradable series of beer rings that can be consumed by animals or left to harmlessly dissolve.

The small US brewery hopes to produce 400,000 six-pack rings a month which will be used on all of its beer.

"It's a big investment for a small brewery created by fisherman, surfers and people that love the sea," Saltwater Brewery's Peter Agardy said.