- ESG /
- Sustainability /
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging is a large and important part of our business. We're committed to reducing packaging and increasing the recycled content in the packaging we produce.
- Overview
- Reducing waste
- Reinventing packaging
- Our brands' environmental footprint
Overview
We all have a responsibility to restore the natural world on which life depends.
As part of our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress plan', we are committed to pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability. An important part of this goal is to become sustainable by design in packaging. This means eliminating waste from our value chain and reinventing packaging by developing solutions to reuse materials and creating innovative solutions to grow sustainably.
Through our products and processes, we will design the change we know our industry needs and the world wants.
Reinventing packaging
We have made important strides in reducing our environmental impact over decades of focus on waste, recycling and packaging. We will continue until we have reduced our impact everywhere: cutting down packaging, increasing recycled content and eliminating waste.
Our innovations are supported by investment in new technology and partnerships that help us grow our brands sustainably and help create a more circular economy.
We are working with innovators through our innovation programme, Diageo Sustainable Solutions (DSS), to reinvent packaging.
Reducing waste
As with most products, making alcoholic drinks has the potential to generate waste at many stages of the product lifecycle.
In 2020, we achieved zero waste to landfill at all our supply and office sites. But we want to go further. We are committed to reducing the volume of materials used, and reusing or recycling waste from our operations in ways that benefit the environment and local communities.
Our brands’ environmental footprint
Our brands rely on water and other limited natural resources and we are committed to using those resources responsibly to preserve them for generations to come.
As part of our ambition to minimising our environmental impact, we are constantly working to improve and extend environmental standards throughout our supply chain and our operations. Part of this is our series of assessments to help us and our consumers better understand the environmental footprint of some of our most popular brands.
Our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' targets
- Achieve zero waste in our direct operations and zero waste to landfill in our supply chain
- Continue our work to reduce total packaging and increase recycled content in our packaging (delivering a 10% reduction in packaging weight and increasing the percentage recycled content of our packaging to 60%)
- Ensure 100% of our packaging is widely recyclable (or reusable/ compostable)
- Achieve 40% recycled content in our plastic bottles by 2025 (and 100% by 2030)
- Ensure 100% of our plastics is designed to be widely recyclable (or reusable/ compostable) by 2025
Reducing waste
We have set a target of eliminating waste from our operations and waste to landfill from our supply chain by 2030 by finding new and better ways to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging and other materials.
As with most products, making alcoholic drinks has the potential to generate waste at many stages of the product lifecycle. As part of our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' action plan, we aim to reduce the volume of materials used, and reuse or recycle waste from our operations in ways that benefit our business, the environment and local communities.
Minimising the waste from our production sites and offices is not only directly linked to cost savings, it also has a positive effect on our efforts to reach net zero, our water stewardship and other environmental impacts of our business.
By the end of 2020, we achieved zero waste to landfill at all our supply and office sites, an important milestone in our ambition to be a zero-waste business. For the minimal waste we do produce, we will ensure it does not go to landfill and will drive the same approach in our supply chain.
Our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' targets
- Achieve zero waste in our direct operations and zero waste to landfill in our supply chain
Reinventing packaging
Reinventing packaging is part of our commitment to be Sustainable by Design.
The packaging which protects and markets all our brands has environmental impacts at every stage, from our suppliers, through retailers, to the consumer and beyond.
Our consumers want the brands they love to be in perfect condition when they buy them and our retailers expect them to look good and stand out on the shelf. We want to use packaging with the lowest environmental impact while delivering what our consumers want.
We have been focusing on sustainable packaging since 2010, and as part of our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' action plan, we are accelerating our efforts to meet our bold 2030 targets.
Reduce, recycle, reuse
Our packaging strategy work falls into 3 areas of focus: reduce, recycle and reuse.
We're tackling the ambitious goals we have set ourselves across our entire business, with teams from research and development, marketing, innovation, and supply chain working closely together.
We are also working with innovators through our Diageo Sustainable Solutions (DSS) initiative to reinvent packaging.
We’ve set four sustainable packaging targets for 2030:
Our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' targets
- Continue our work to reduce total packaging and increase recycled content in our packaging (delivering a 10% reduction in packaging weight and increasing the percentage recycled content of our packaging to 60%)
- Ensure 100% of our packaging is widely recyclable (or reusable/compostable)
- Achieve 40% recycled content in our plastic bottles by 2025, and 100% by 2030
- Ensure 100% of our plastics are designed to be widely recyclable (or reusable/ compostable) by 2025
Our brands' environmental footprint
Our responsibility for managing the environmental impact of our brands has never been more important. We are committed to preserving and protecting the resources we rely on and the communities we source from.
We are building and nurturing some of the world’s most well-loved brands, including Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker. Measuring and managing their environmental impact is not only important for the planet and the communities in which we work, it is essential for the financial sustainability of our supply chain and our business.
As part of our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' plan, we are committed to minimising the environmental impact of our brands across our operations, and are working to extend environmental standards throughout our supply chain.
Life Cycle Assessments
We know that today’s consumers are increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of the brands they choose, and are looking for information to help them make informed decisions. That’s why we’ve been working on a series of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to help people better understand the environmental footprint of some of our most popular brands.
These Life Cycle Assessments provide a summary of the carbon and water impact for each brand and how it compares to drinks such as water, milk and coffee. They also use everyday references to help people easily understand each brand’s impact as well as providing details on how we are working to address these impacts.
Society 2030
in action
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