how 'green' is your favourite whisky?

With the SWA pledging to achieve net zero emissions for constituent distilleries by 2040, what steps have been made towards that target?

Here are 8 sustainable production features and some of the Scotch whisky distilleries that are already nailing them. 🥊💥

Barley 🌾

Grown without the use of pesticides or fertiliser, organic barley is expensive to produce due to its susceptibility to harsh environmental factors, but its use improves the biodiversity of the farmland and promotes soil health and water quality. Nc’Nean Distillery are one of the only producers that only use organic barley in their whisky production on a permanent basis.

Energy 🔥

A huge amount of energy goes into producing whisky but many distilleries have switched to 100% renewable energy like Glenwyvis and Ardnamurchan.

Some have turned to Biomass boilers, for instance Nc’Nean power their distillery with wood chips from a local renewable forest. The forest continuously replants in a virtuous biogenic cycle.

Green Hydrogen 💚

A few distilleries have turned to green hydrogen experimentation backed my government funding.

Arbikie Distillery have installed a wind turbine to supply renewable energy to an electrolyser that will produce hydrogen from wastewater. Elsewhere, Bruichladdich Distillery have secured government funding for a project enabling the distillery to produce hydrogen for a specially equipped boiler, their mission being to completely decarbonise their distillation by 2025.

Water 💧

Water is a critical component in whisky production. Many distilleries are starting to implement water recycling and treatment systems. For instance, Bruichladdich have installed a circulatory heating system to recycle hot wastewater.

Liquid Waste ❎

Glengoyne was the first Scotch whisky distillery to adopt a wetlands facility to manage liquid waste (‘spent lees’) in CO2-capturing reed beds. The wetlands have since become a haven for local wildlife.

Solid Waste ❌

Sustainability also involves reducing solid waste by-products such as draff (the by-product left after the mashing stage).

Tomatin Distillery send their draff to a biogas plant to generate green sustainable fuel; Adelphi Distillery send theirs for combining with pot ale to produce animal feed.

Glass Bottles & Packaging ♲

Nc’Nean use 100% recycled glass bottles which have a 40% lower carbon footprint than traditional glass bottles.

Many brands have opted to drop outer packaging– Wemyss Family Malts has recently dropped their secondary packaging.

WHISKY Tourism 👨‍👩‍👧

With distillery visits amounting to around 2 million people per year, sustainable tourism is a huge concern.

The Glenturret Distillery, Glengoyne and Glenkinchie have all been awarded a Gold Green Tourism award which are assessed against 15 sustainability criteria including: waste management, ethical purchasing and sourcing of local produce.

#whisky #scotch #sustainability #scotland