The journey from grain to glass can be long and complex with significant environmental impacts, from ingredients to energy, transport to packaging.  So what exactly is the drinks industry in Scotland doing to lighten its footprint?

Moving towards more sustainable beverages often means rethinking core ingredients. While malt whisky must be made with barley (which can be imported), there are no such rules for gin or vodka. That means Arbikie Distillery in Angus can produce Tattie Bogle vodka from potatoes that don’t pass supermarket aesthetic standards but are perfectly useable. 

In a similar vein, their head distiller Kirsty Black has created Nàdar: climate-positive vodka and gin made from peas which are brilliant for the environment because they capture nitrogen from the air, meaning they don’t need synthetic fertilisers. They also trap carbon in the soil and improve soil quality. Happily, when distilled, Nàdar loses all traces of both the pea colour and taste. 

Taking a different approach, Discarded Spirits Co. believes ‘waste tastes beautiful.’ They produce spirits from food waste, like grape-skin vodka made using fruit recovered from the wine-making process. There’s also banana peel rum and a sweet cascara vermouth (cascara berries are a waste product of the coffee industry). The Discarded website is also a great resource for zero-waste cocktail recipes that use over-ripe fruit and even coffee grounds to make syrups and spritzes.

Besides what goes into our favourite tipples, producing and transporting the glass they’re bottled in adds significantly to a drink’s carbon footprint. Dunnet Bay Distillery, near Thurso, offers a refill service for its ceramic bottles, posting out recyclable pouches which weigh much less than glass. Empty pouches can then be sent back freepost. Nc’nean Distillery on the Morvern peninsula uses 100% recycled glass and has Scotland’s first free remote bottle return scheme. Nc’nean founder Annabel Thomas says: ‘if every bottle of whisky bought from a distillery’s website in Scotland could be returned for refilling, the collective carbon savings would be enormous. It’s an opportunity to significantly reduce waste and protect the environment; as fierce protectors of nature, it’s an initiative we are proud to lead.’

Thinking beyond glass, drinks giant Diageo trialled their first paper-based 70cl bottle in late 2024. The Johnnie Walker Black Label trial bottles were made from 90% paper with a thin plastic liner, designed not to require consumer or bartender disassembly for recycling. They used the paper-based bottles at Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s 1820 Rooftop Bar, taking the opportunity of working with a ‘house bar’ to learn how bartenders interact with and pour from the bottles. Jennifer English, global brand director, said: ‘we are constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation to not only deliver the premium quality and iconic design our customers expect, but to reflect our sustainability ambitions.’

As well as these individual innovations in packaging, food waste and ingredients, the bigger picture is also being addressed by a number of Scottish companies. Labels like ‘ethical’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ are vague and often used to greenwash products and messaging. In contrast, B Corp certification is seen as the ‘gold standard’ for ethical business practices; it proves that companies meet high standards across performance, accountability and traceability for things like materials, supply chain, employee benefits and charitable giving.

Islay’s Bruichladdich was the first whisky distillery in Scotland to gain B Corp certification, followed by Nc’nean. The latter sources only organic Scottish barley, runs on renewable energy, and became the first whisky distillery in the UK to be verified as net zero for its own operations. Other Scottish drinks companies flying the B Corp flag include Black Isle Brewing, Muckle Brig, North Uist Distillery and Feragaia. While no system is perfect, B Corp guarantees that both the environment and employees are treated well. We can all drink to that.