USA – Diageo North America has announced that it will be introducing its blended American whiskey, Seagram’s 7 Crown in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET), making 7 Crown the first brand under Diageo to launch in the packaging.
Building on a decade long commitment to making its packaging more sustainable, Diageo North America said that it will remove virgin plastic from Seagram’s 7 Crown bottles across all its Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) formats: 1.75l, 750ml, 375ml and 200ml.
The spirits company noted that the change will reduce the use of virgin plastic by almost 1000 tons annually, the equivalent of removing 100 million 500ml plastic bottles – (which, if laid out in a row, would represent 11,957 miles – almost 5 trips between New York and Los Angeles).
The company plans to launch the new bottles across the Seagram’s 7 Crown range in the United States from the end of June 2020 while retaining a variety of the brand’s formats in glass bottles alongside the new recycled PET bottles.
Ronald Holmes, Packaging Director, Diageo North America said that the spirits company will continue to take an innovative approach towards delivering sustainable packaging designs supporting its goal to increase recycled content across brands globally to 45%.
“Using recycled materials to make packaging reduces the carbon footprint of our brands, raises awareness with consumers, and encourages the industry to follow,” Ronald said.
“Great packaging is essential for our brands. Consumers expect our packs to be of the highest quality, while also being functional and sustainable,” added Jason Sorley, Brand Director, Diageo North America.
“We are very excited to have Seagram’s 7 Crown move to 100% recycled PET, reinforcing our commitment to both innovation and minimizing its environmental footprint.”
This innovation brings Diageo closer to its ambitious targets for use of plastics. Diageo has committed towards ensuring that 100% of its plastic use is designed to be widely recyclable, reusable or compostable, by 2030 through the use of plastics that allow for increased consumer recycling rates.
Diageo has also committed to phasing out the use of plastic straws and stirrers from its offices, events, promotions, advertising and marketing globally.
Last year, Diageo announced an investment to reduce the amount of plastics used in its beer packaging operations.
This was followed by a Guinness Open Gate Brewery announcement that all Baltimore-brewed limited release canned multipacks available for purchase at the brewery will be sold in ecofriendly carriers as an alternative to the standard plastic rings typically used for beer.
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