SWA sets out green approach for whisky industry

Published: 23 July, 2008

To mark EU Green Week (3-6 June 2008), the Scotch Whisky industry will set out its environmental best practice during a major conference in Brussels today (June 4).

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is showcasing a range of initiatives aimed at protecting the environment from which industry raw materials are sourced.

In a keynote speech at the Sustainable Industry: From Production to Consumption' conference, the SWA will highlight initiatives such as:

Investment in energy-saving technologies, with excess energy from whisky-making recycled to heat Scottish communities and exported back to the National Grid;

Research into innovative techniques to re-use distillery co-products (residues from the distilling process) as an alternative renewable energy source;

Increased use of lightweight packaging, requiring less raw material and energy to make.

Morag Garden, SWA environmental affairs manager, said: "Scotch Whisky has a strong environmental record and EU Green Week provides an opportunity to showcase industry best practice.

"Distillers are continuing to work to reduce the impacts of their operations even further and to promote long-term sustainability. An industry-wide environmental strategy is, for example, being developed which will look to set ambitious targets in areas such as energy and packaging over the coming decades."

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