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Diageo
collaborates with glass manufacturer in
trial to make most sustainable glass
Scotch whisky bottles ever.
A successful pilot project has
pioneered the lowest carbon footprint
glass bottles ever produced for a Scotch
whisky brand.
The collaboration between Diageo, glass
manufacturer Encirc and leading industry
research and technology body Glass
Futures, used waste-based biofuel-powered
furnaces to reduce the carbon footprint
of the bottle-making process by up to
90%.
For the purposes of the trial, we used
our Black & White Scotch whisky brand –
famous for its label featuring a West
Highland terrier and a Scotty dog, and
which is a popular and growing whisky in
key global export markets.
The trial produced 173,000 Black & White
bottles, also using 100% recycled glass,
making the batch the most
environmentally-friendly ever produced
for a Scotch whisky brand.
 Further work now needs to be done to
develop and scale the trial for future
production, but it represents a
significant step forward in our drive to
transform the sustainability of our
grain-to-glass supply chain.
We have supported Glass Futures from
concept and following the success of the
trial, Diageo has agreed a 10-year
partnership to accelerate collaboration
and innovation in the glass industry.
John Aird Senior Packaging Technologist
at Diageo commented: "We are committed
to creating a sustainable future for our
business and that includes looking for
innovative new ways to make our bottles
and packaging that reduces the carbon
footprint of our products. This trial is
just a first step in the journey to
decarbonise this aspect of our supply
chain and we still have a long way to
go, but we are delighted with the
results of the collaboration and the
platform it creates for future
innovation. We see Glass Futures as a
great opportunity to develop new
technology and to help deliver net zero
glass manufacturing and we are delighted
to support them in that mission."
Adrian Curry Managing Director at Encirc
said: "This is a truly momentous
occasion for glass. We have set the
standard globally with this trial and
now the glass industry needs to work
towards realising what we’ve proved is
possible. We now know that glass can be
the most sustainable of all packaging
types and must all work together to
ensure that happens."
Aston Fuller General Manager of Glass
Futures said: "The trial is delivering
fantastic results for the manufacturer,
end user and consumer. Glass is a fully
recyclable and highly sustainable
product, and through this trial with
Encirc we are seeing the dawn of
Net-Zero technologies with this
full-scale trial of a new alternative
low-carbon fuel."
The project is part of the UK Government
Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Energy
Innovation Programme, within which Glass
Futures is leading a £7.1m initiative to
explore the most effective routes to
switching glass manufacturing to low
carbon fuels.
Diageo’s support for Glass Futures is
part of our commitment to transforming
packaging sustainability. We recently
announced our Society 2030: Spirit of
Progress sustainability plan for a
decade of action to tackle climate
change, which includes ambitious
environmental goals such as being net
zero emissions from all direct
operations by 2030.
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