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With more than tons of glass bottles manufactured every year in the alcohol beverage industry alone, a solution needed to be created to reduce the amount of waste and carbon emissions being generated.
Earlier this year Diageo Indonesia launched a reusable packaging collaboration with Smirnoff, Captain Morgan & ecoSPIRITs, an innovative closed-loop distribution system that nearly eliminates packaging waste in the premium spirits supply chain. As part of this pilot program, Diageo deployed branded Smirnoff Vodka and Captain Morgan Rum in ecoSPIRITS’ ecoTOTE formats across 20 restaurants and bars in Jakarta and Bali. Once the ecoTOTE has been used it gets picked up, refilled, and then sent back to the venue to use again, saving 5 glass bottles each time, and therefore reducing the amount of carbon produced. This pilot aims to reduce approximately 99% of packaging waste compared to traditional single use glass bottles.
Pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability is one of the pillars that underpins our Spirit of Progress action plan to help create a more inclusive and sustainable world. It’s the passion and drive of our people who are turning plans into action. We spoke to Technical Director, Swathi, and Engineering Manager, Tresna, about how one idea became reality after 2 years of team collaboration.
How did this idea come about and what was your involvement?
Swathi:
I head up Supply Technical for Diageo Southeast Asia, which includes areas such as Innovation & Brand Change, Environmental Sustainability, Quality, Safety and Risk Management. The main purpose of my role is to deliver future focused innovation technologies, while also assuring the reputation and governance of our Supply Chain in Southeast Asia.
As a part of Diageo’s Spirit of Progress action plan, we are committed to building a low-carbon and more sustainable world. Part of my role involves ensuring we have an external lens and stay on top of industry trends and innovations. This is how we came across ecoSPIRITS and started the conversation. Through our partnership with ecoSPIRITS, our aim is to reduce our carbon footprint by eliminating unnecessary glass waste, demonstrating how we’re using innovation within sustainability.
I was the Project Lead for this initiative, which was made possible by an enthusiastic cross-functional team passionate about sustainability, and a great partnership with the ecoSPIRITS team. The project was challenging in the sense that it required huge change. Change is always hard, but we all kept an open mind and embraced the challenge knowing it would result in a better outcome for our packaging solutions.
Tresna:
At Diageo, we’re all committed to reducing the damage to our planet. And one way in that we can contribute to this is by reducing our carbon footprint through eliminating unnecessary glass waste. I play a role in supporting this in the SEA region through the ecoSPIRITs project, as an engineering manager. For this project my on-going role involves ensuring the machine installation process runs according to schedule so that we can deliver our product on time and to a high standard of quality.
Despite many learning curves that we faced during preparation and execution, the team worked collaboratively and overcame the challenges together. This wouldn’t have been accomplished if it wasn’t for creativity and passion of the Diageo Indonesia Engineering team.
- Why does this project matter to you personally?
Swathi:
I’m a Zoologist by training and have a degree in Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology. I’ve always been passionate about nature, biology, the animal kingdom, and biodiversity. It breaks my heart to think my son’s children may not see an elephant outside of a picture book. I want to do my part to reverse some of the damage to biodiversity, however small it might be.
This is one of the things that excites and inspires me about working for Diageo – being purpose driven and able to have a real impact. Our Spirit of Progress action plan, especially our grain-to-glass sustainability ambitions to decarbonize our operation and help tackle the climate crisis, inspires me every day.
Tresna:
As an engineering manager, it’s my heart's calling to be able to drive more projects related to sustainability. In 2018, I was given the mandate to lead the engineering department. We’ve achieved many things to be proud of, such as reducing water consumption by 50%, and increasing renewable energy to 99% in the Indonesian market.
My hope is that this is one of many future collaborations that will inspire and spark conversation and action that leads to reduced environmental pollution.
- What have you enjoyed most about working at Diageo so far?
Swathi:
I joined Diageo as a Graduate Trainee over 12 years ago. I’ve done several roles across different markets and business units. In every one of my roles, I’ve really enjoyed learning from and working with people from different parts of the world. My experience working in a culturally diverse environment has shaped my leadership style to be more inclusive and purpose-driven.
Tresna:
I joined Diageo 7 years ago and at that time we had just started building facilities in Indonesia from scratch, which really allowed me to make an impact from day one. When I was a production supervisor, I was passionate for producing high quality products and in a safe environment. Now working as an Engineering Manager, I really enjoy working with teams from different departments which enables me to see different perspectives and solve problems from different angles.
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