Diageo has announced a new partnership with ecoSPIRITS, a technology company that produces circular packaging solutions for the premium spirits and wine industry, to pilot a sustainable packaging format starting with Smirnoff and Captain Morgan in Southeast Asia, with the view of a later rollout across the Asia-Pacific region.
This pilot trial will see Diageo deploying branded, next-generation packaging technologies to bottle, store, distribute and dispense spirits with selected bars and restaurants. By leveraging the ecoSPIRITS closed-loop system, Diageo aims to reduce its carbon footprint and waste from single-use glass spirits bottles. This new partnership is part of the company’s commitment to transform packaging sustainability as outlined in its Society 2030: Spirit of Progress action plan.
Diageo will send its products in the branded re-useable ecoTote containers to the bars and restaurants. Once emptied, the bars and restaurants will return them to Diageo to be refilled. Diageo is the global launch partner for ecoSPIRITS’ new Intelligent Circular generation of technologies, including the new SmartPour 2.0s for dispensing spirits at bars and restaurants, and the first to directly operate an ecoPLANT bottling facility.
“Diageo is guided by the goals outlined in our Society 2030: Spirit of Progress 10-year action plan and we are committed to building a low-carbon and zero-waste world,” said Preeti Arora Razdan, CEO, Southeast Asia, Diageo. “We are thrilled to be partnering with ecoSPIRITS to help us deliver on this promise to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and eliminate unnecessary glass waste with our on-premise customers. This pilot is an important step in the right direction to innovate and model a more sustainable solution for all our markets in Southeast Asia.”
“ecoSPIRITS is building a global platform for closed-loop wine and spirits. Our roadmap for Intelligent Circular will help us, and pioneering customers like Diageo, tackle the environmental footprint of single-use glass at an unprecedented scale,” noted Sui Ling Cheah, executive board chair, ecoSPIRITS, “Both companies share a vision of sustainability for the planet. We commend the entire Diageo team on their commitment to helping lead the industry into a sustainable future.”