Hot on the heels of the unveiling last month of Absolut’s fully recyclable paper
bottle
— set to hit shelves in 2021 — and amidst a flurry of industry
innovation
determined to rein in our global plastic pollution problem,
Bacardi this week unveiled plans to put what
it’s calling “the world’s most sustainable spirits bottle” on shelf by 2023.
The 100 percent biodegradable bottle is the result of a collaboration between
Bacardi and Danimer Scientific, a leading
developer and manufacturer of biodegradable products. Petroleum-based plastics
used by Bacardi today will be replaced by Danimer’s Nodax™
PHA — a
biopolymer derived from the natural oils of plant seeds such as palm,
canola and soy — by 2023. While a regular plastic bottle takes over 400
years to decompose, the new, Nodax-based bottle will biodegrade in a wide range
of environments — including compost, soil, freshwater and sea water — and
disappear after 18 months without leaving behind harmful
microplastics.
The new bottles will replace 80 Million plastic bottles — 3,000 tons of plastic
— currently produced by Bacardi, the world’s largest family-owned spirits
company, across its portfolio of brands every year.
BACARDÍ® rum will be the first spirit to appear in the new bottle, before
the plant-based material is rolled out to replace single-use plastic across the
entire Bacardi supply chain and the company’s 200 brands and labels — including
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin, GREY GOOSE® vodka, PATRÓN® tequila,
MARTINI® vermouth and DEWAR’S® Scotch whisky.
Ned Duggan, SVP of BACARDÍ rum, said: “Over our 158-year history, BACARDÍ
has always believed in respecting the world’s natural resources and acting
responsibly, from the sustainable sourcing of our
sugarcane
to the water and
energy
used to make our rum. We’re now excited to be pioneering this new biopolymer
technology for the benefit of all Bacardi brands and the entire spirits
industry.”
Bacardi is also on the growing paper bottle bandwagon with Absolut,
Carlsberg
and others. Along with the new biopolymer bottle, Bacardi is creating a paper
bottle that also contains the Nodax PHA polymer — to create a sustainable
package that still ensures that the quality and taste of the spirit inside a
bottle made of paper is as exceptional as one made of glass.
Thanks to the versatility of the Nodax PHA polymer, the Bacardi Packaging
Development team is also working to crack one of the beverage industry’s
longest-standing plastic problems — the plastic lining of bottle closures.
“It may sound small, but add that up across every bottle produced globally and
we’re talking many tonnes of plastic every day,” says Jean-Marc Lambert, SVP
of Global Operations for Bacardi. “Once we’ve fixed the problem, we’ll be
open-sourcing the solution for the entire industry to use. This isn’t about
competitive advantage it’s about doing the right thing for the planet.
“When we set ourselves the goal of being 100 percent plastic free by 2030, we
knew that it would take groundbreaking advances in packaging design to make it
achievable, and that’s exactly what’s happening through our partnership with
Danimer.”
Danimer Scientific was first on our radar back in 2013 — when Canada’s
Canterbury Coffee used an earlier PLA-based resin from Danimer for its
compostable, biodegradable OneCoffee
pods.
Since 2017, Danimer has been working closely with
PepsiCo
to develop biodegradable film resins for use in the company’s snack packaging.
Nodax PHA is already being used for a wide range of applications — including
thermoformed trays, drinking straws, flexible and multi-layer film packaging,
coatings, disposable cutlery and more.
In 2016, Bacardi led the drinks industry by committing to eliminate all
single-use plastic straws in its cocktails. And two years ago, it began a
collaboration with the Lonely Whale
Foundation
to remove single-use plastic straws from bars and restaurants. Danimer’s release
of its completely biodegradable plastic straws in 2018 has complemented these
initiatives to help reduce the global impact of plastic waste.
With the growing wave of industry initiatives, innovations and collaborations
propelling solutions to end global packaging waste, we’re willing to bet Bacardi
will have plenty of competition for the title of “the world’s most sustainable
spirits bottle” by 2023.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Oct 22, 2020 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST