Irish Distillers has announced that it will progressively remove gift boxes from its portfolio of Jameson products, resulting in the removal of approximately four million single use cartons.
According to the company, all of Irish Distillers’ secondary packaging across its portfolio of Irish whiskeys will be recyclable, reusable, compostable or removed entirely by the end of 2025.
Consumers can expect to see a gradual reduction of secondary packaging in markets over this time-frame, it added.
Nodjame Fouad, chairman and CEO, Irish Distillers, said that “operating and thinking sustainably is not an option; it is a necessity."
"In recent years, we have made a number of changes across our operations to support our sustainability and responsibility ambitions," he noted.
Sustainability Ambitions
The move supports Irish Distillers’ sustainability and responsibility ambitions and will reduce the environmental impact of brand packaging by reducing waste.
"We understand that reducing our impact at all stages of our value chain is critical and this includes packaging waste such as cardboard and choosing more sustainable packaging materials," Fouad added.
"We will continue to apply Pernod Ricard’s key principles: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Respect, minimising waste at each step of our product lifecycle.”
Rolled Out Changes
Sustainable changes are already being rolled out across the portfolio, the distiller noted.
Midleton Very Rare 2023, which is due for release later this month February (2023), will come in a new, high quality recyclable box instead of the wooden box previously used.
Irish Distillers noted that the development of the new paper packaging has reduced fossil fuel emissions by 53%, greenhouse gas emissions by 53% and water usage by 39% across the production life cycle in comparison to the previous wooden packaging.
Jameson 18 Years was also recently re-designed and is now presented in a lightweight and fully recyclable cardboard box with Jameson Bow Street 18 Years due to follow suit over the next year.
Similarly, Redbreast’s ultra-premium offerings, Redbreast 21 and Redbreast 27 will transition from wooden boxes to fully recyclable secondary packaging by the end of 2025.
© 2023 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more packaging stories, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
