Sustainable Sips Exploring Innovations and Sustainable Trends
In the pursuit of a sustainable and responsible future, the India’s alcobev and allied industries are undergoing a transformative journey. These sectors are diligently employing a series of environmentally friendly, technology-driven measures, which are reflected in their sourcing of raw materials to the transportation of finished goods, with the objective to curtail carbon emissions and contribute to the environment.
Within this dynamic landscape, different verticals of the alcobev industry, including bottle manufacturers, label producers and alco-beverage producers are taking deliberate strides to reduce their carbon footprint. Recently, the Spiritz Achievers’ Awards and Conclave provided a platform for industry professionals from various segments to come together under the above mentioned theme. This convergence aimed to showcase and review initiatives that promise not only economic viability but also environmental stewardship; marking a collective commitment to responsible business practices in the ever-evolving alcobev industry.
ThinkPad’s inaugural session, where the core focus revolved around the intriguing question of ensuring sustainable sips to benefit alcobev companies, consumers, and commerce in the nation, was packed with alcobev and hospitality industry leaders, marketing professionals, academicians, media professionals, bloggers, and students. Session was led by Gautam Mehra, Founder of Pariptram Solutions Pvt Ltd. Joining him on the panel were Karninder Verma, GM of AGI Greenpac; Anuj Bhargava, Founder of Kumar Labels; and Vanessa Pandita, Non-Executive Director of Alcobrew Distilleries India Pvt Ltd. All the panelists represent different dimension of alcobev sector and have been ensuring sustainable alcobev sips for consumers.
Three Pillars of Sustainability
In his opening remark, Gautam set the tone for the discourse by urging his fellow panelists to deliberate on how they were adopting sustainability measures in their enterprise. “Huge efforts have been made by the alcobev industry to encourage sustainable practices and offer more consumer friendly choices through declined use of mono carton, eco-friendly bottles and enclosures and controlling carbon footprint and much much more,” Gautam affirmed while emphasising on environmentally sustainable packaging solutions.
Taking forward Gautam’s cue on sustainability in alcobev packaging in India, Karninder raised three questions to deliberate further. “How many of us know that out of total pet or the plastic that has been produced so far how much has got recycled? Does anybody know that how many times you can reuse a glass bottle? What can be done with broken or disposed off products?” His questions induced introspection in the panel as well as among the audience. He answered the questions through his detailed presentation.
He responded “There are three pillars of sustainability ie. economic, environmental and social sustainability” He mentioned that “Beer bottles’ recirculation is around 60 percent and landed bottles’ cost after recirculation is somewhere close to one third of the original beer bottle’s cost.”
In his engaging presentation he efficiently elaborated on his company’s environmental and social sustainability initiative to contribute in ensuring sustainable business. Mantra for sustainability for his company is to reduce, reuse and recycle and he informed that his company was running on 18 percent renewable energy.
Packaging Innovations
In the discussion on sustainable spirits packaging, Anuj emphasised on the often-overlooked environmental impact on labels, despite their minimal cost in packaging. Kumar Labels has taken substantial steps internally to address the issue, by adopting UV LED technology to significantly reduce energy consumption in the printing process. They have also patented SRTF technology; addressing the issue of release liner waste, and are actively exploring the use of thinner gauges for papers and liners.
Through these measures, the company aims to strike a balance between sustainability and cost-effectiveness, thereby offering innovative solutions which contribute to reducing the carbon footprint in the alcobev packaging. However, at the same time he also pragmatically mentioned, “It is interesting that we might sit on this panel and talk about sustainability but unless it is also economically viable no one would pay for the environment. And that has been my experience.”
Furthermore, the company’s commitment to recycling is evident in the development of labels made
with 90 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) material. This includes reused PCR material in liners, backing papers, and labels; catering to the growing demand for environmentally conscious packaging solutions.
As a final touch, the introduction of wash-off adhesives at their company facilitates easy label removal within three minutes, promoting bottle reuse and aligning with the broader industry goal of minimising environmental impact.
These above-mentioned initiatives collectively positions the company as one of the important players in sustainable practices within the alco-beverages packaging sector.
Reducing Carbon Footprints
In a candid discussion, Vanessa brought to light the intricate web of factors contributing to reduction of carbon footprint in beverage production at the Alcobrew Distilleries. She cited some findings from the Beverage Industry Environmental Round Table’s findings to articulate the environmental impact of distillation process, glass production, grain cultivation, warehousing and transport logistics, where distillation process had the maximum impact on environment as compared to others mentioned.
She also asserted that a 1750ml bottle containing alcoholic beverages introduces 2.9 kg of carbon dioxide emissions. But notwithstanding such
