Bacardi provides sustainably-designed bottles
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Design & Innovation Sustainability Bottling Bacardi Bacardi Classic Cocktails Bacardi Limited Good spirited global sustainability program Good Spirited: Building a Sustainable Future plastic bottlesBacardi now offering environmentally-friendly and still elegantly engineered bottles for its brands.
Hamilton, Bermuda—Just as the making of Bacardi rum is an exacting science, so is the crafting of every bottle bearing the iconic bat logo and prestigious Bacardi family name. Bottles for each distinctive brand in the award-winning rum portfolio are highly engineered – crafted for beauty and now with more environmental efficiency.
The Bacardi Classic Cocktails bottle now weighs 30 per cent less than it did just a few years ago, making more streamlined, resulting in lower CO2 emissions.
Another standout is the Bacardi rum bottle used for the entire line of party drinks – made of 100 percent recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic, which Bacardi says requires less energy to produce than glass, lowers transportation costs and fuel emissions – and importantly, is safer than traditional glass for on-the-go venues.
“Since glass should not be used around the pool, on a boat or at many public events, we redesigned the Bacardi Party Drinks packaging and were able to reduce the weight by 90 per cent using PET,” explains Bacardi manager of global packaging development Roger Van Dusen.
Since 2006, Bacardi has reduced the weight of its entire brand portfolio packaging by more than seven per cent. The weight reduction is equivalent to taking 1,100 full truckloads off the road – a significant reduction in the Bacardi carbon footprint.
“Sustainability is truly a part of the Bacardi DNA, embedded way back from our founding in Cuba,” adds Van Dusen. “The passion we have is a driving force for our environmental efforts to this day to return to the environment at least as much as we take away. We’re setting sustainability standards for others in the spirits industry to follow.”
For Bacardi, sustainability is good business – an approach that dates back to the very beginning of the company. Bacardi founder, Don Facundo Bacardí Massó, opened his first distillery on February 4, 1862, in Santiago de Cuba. He built the business on a challenge from the Spanish government to reduce surplus amounts of molasses in Cuba, leading to the crafting of Bacardi rum.
With over 200 brands, Bacardi Limited is the largest privately-held spirits company in the world
Building on current programs and efficiencies that reduce environmental impacts, the Bacardi Limited “Good Spirited” global sustainability program sets specific goals in three areas to help the Company reach its vision of a net zero environmental impact:
- Responsible Sourcing: Bacardi strives to obtain all raw materials and packaging from sustainably sourced, renewable or recycled materials while maintaining or enhancing the economic status of growers and suppliers. By 2017, the goal is to obtain 40 per cent of the sugarcane-derived products used to make BACARDÍ rum from certified, sustainable sources – and 100 per cent by 2022. This pledge from Bacardi is an industry first.
- Global Packaging: Bacardi commits to use eco-design to craft sustainability into its brand packaging and point-of-sale materials. By 2017, Bacardi plans to reduce the weight of its packaging by 10 per cent and achieve 15 per cent by 2022.
- Operational Efficiencies: Bacardi continues to focus on reducing water use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with a 2017 goal to cut water use by 55 per cent and GHG emissions by 50 per cent. In addition, Bacardi aims to eliminate landfill waste at all of its production sites by 2022.
To learn more about Bacardi Limited and its “Good Spirited: Building a Sustainable Future” environmental initiative for sourcing, packaging and operational efficiencies across the entire Bacardi family of premium spirits brands, visit www.BacardiLimited.com/good-spirited.
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