US – Bermuda-based spirits company Bacardi has announced plans to make all its new gift packs fully plastic-free from this month.

The announcement is in line with the company’s commitment to eliminating single-use plastic from its gifting range by the end of next year.

The company had pledged to remove all plastic point-of-sales materials by next year and be entirely plastic-free by 2030.

From this month, all new Bacardi gift packs, including BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho rum, GREY GOOSE vodka, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Premier Cru, MARTINI vermouth, PATRÓN tequila and DEWAR’S 12-Year-Old Blended Scotch whisky, will now be sold without plastic.

The company expects this move to eliminate nearly 275 tonnes of single-use plastic a year. It will involve Bacardi offering new packaging designs that are plastic-free or replacing them with sustainable alternatives.

As well as using cardboard certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the company is also pioneering the use of alternative materials – becoming the first spirits company to use a new biobased, 100% compostable packaging material in its ABERFELDY 12-Year-Old ‘Gold Bar’ gift pack.

The sustainable material, made from potato starch and cellulose fibers, replaces plastic vacuum packaging.

Bacardi global safety, quality and sustainability vice-president Rodolfo Nervi said: “We are committed to being 100% plastic-free by 2030 and the removal of plastic from our gift packs is a major milestone on that journey.

“For more than 160 years, we have pioneered as a company, ad our drive to remove plastic is no exception.

“We will continue to innovate and explore new sustainable alternative materials to plastic because it is the right thing to do.”

The company currently sells its products in more than 170 countries, employing more than 8,000 people at production facilities in ten countries.

In October this year, the brand started removing plastic pourers from its bottles as part of its efforts to replace plastic with sustainable alternatives.

According to the company, the move will help the firm cut about 140 tonnes of single-use plastic per annum.

Bacardi said it will eliminate plastic pourers of all 1.75l bottles of BACARDÍ rum, including Superior, Gold and Coconut, in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico by early 2023, reducing 76 tonnes of plastic per annum.

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