Could aluminium revolutionise sustainable spirits packaging? - The Spirits Business

The spirits industry is always looking for new ways to become more sustainable, but could switching from glass to metal really be the answer?

*This feature was originally published in the August 2024 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.

In the past two years the use of aluminium in the spirits industry has taken off, literally. Three major airlines have introduced aluminium miniatures onboard this year. Sustainaholics – a packaging start-up specialising in ‘100% recycled’ aluminium miniatures – has secured listings with EasyJet and British Airways, while Sapling Spirits has partnered with Virgin. Meanwhile, a growing number of brands have launched aluminium bottles as part of their core ranges. Herefordshire’s Penrhos Spirits began switching its range to ‘100% recycled’ aluminium in January 2023. Foxhole Spirits’ Hyke Gin relaunched in ‘100%-recycled’ aluminium this year. Ogilvy Spirits in Forfar, Scotland, is also phasing out glass, transitioning its vodka and crème de cassis to recycled aluminium bottles.

It’s not just smaller, challenger brands investing in ‘eco-friendly’ aluminium. This year Diageo committed to producing 30,000 700ml aluminium bottles of Baileys, and is also building an ‘advanced’ aluminium-recycling and manufacturing plant in the UK to help mitigate the country’s ‘energy-intensive’ supply chain. Denmark’s Danzka Vodka launched in an aluminium bottle in 1989, and that is the material it still uses. But in the 35 years since there has been little interest by other companes, until now. On the face of it this seems odd – aluminium isn’t anything new.

Demand for eco-friendly products is a factor in its increased use. Aluminium is lightweight, infinitely recyclable, and doesn’t lose quality over time, unlike glass. It also uses less energy than glass to be recycled. “There is a lot of excess unnecessary material in a glass bottle,” says Simon Pierce, commercial manager at Hyke Gin. “The luxury of aluminium is its durability. It is lightweight, strong, and won’t shatter. Our new bottle is 40% lighter when filled than our previous glass bottle, with a 35% volume saving per box compared with glass.” This means 48% more bottles can fit on a pallet. Cost is a factor too. For years, glass has been the cheaper, more premium option. It will always hold weight in luxury markets, but with the price of glass rising, aluminium has become more attractive. This, combined with advances in packaging technology and recycling has positioned aluminium as a viable option. “I could see us dying a slow death with the cost of glass spiralling and the marketplace getting busier and busier,” explains Charlie Turner, Penrhos’s co-founder. “We needed a difference to stand out. I just began to think that there must be another way.” The brand’s ‘100%-recycled’ aluminium bottle weighs 78g (previously 750g in glass). One lorry can now carry 50,000 aluminium bottles, compared with 20,000 glass ones, resulting in a 91% reduction in carbon emissions.

“One of our big overarching factors was whether aluminium would taint the product,” adds Graeme Jarron, founder of Ogilvy Spirits. “Vodka has nothing to hide behind. We found nothing that would pose a problem, and we decided that aluminium was the way for us. It’s the only next logical step.” Ogilvy’s aluminium bottle replaces its tapered bottle, which was also acid etched. Its switch to aluminium was “significantly cheaper”, and the label can be removed, and the container reused as a water bottle. “Our products, if we’re honest, are a luxury,” adds Jarron. “If we want people to keep buying, we have to make it more affordable, not constantly pass on the cost to consumers.”

Cut carbon emissions

But not all aluminium is created equal. Much energy is needed to make new aluminium by extracting bauxite from the earth. Post-consumer recycled (PCR) aluminium requires far less, representing a 95% reduction in carbon emissions, according to The Aluminium Association. “There has to be a clear distinction between the benefits of 100%-recycled aluminium and virgin aluminium, and this requires transparency,” says Turner. “If we supply an undeniably correct product consumers will respond positively. Anyone that I speak to is positive when they are informed that the difference in the carbon footprint is so big. The biggest weakness to this concept is if brands take shortcuts and confuse the consumer.”

However, according to a 2021 study published by professor Ian Williams and Alice Brock of the University of Southampton, aluminium, new or recycled, is still less environmentally damaging than glass or plastics. “We found that glass bottles have about a 95% bigger contribution to global warming than aluminium cans,” they said.

David Mills, who has a background in finance and aviation, founded Sustainaholics in 2023 with the aim of shaking up onboard spirits selections, but quickly realised it was the packaging that would create a point of difference. Sustainaholic’s 50ml “100% PCR recycled” Alumini bottles reduce weight onboard, both an environmental benefit and a cost saving for the airline. “What’s changed is that people are trying to gain a competitive advantage through sustainability, which I believe is driving a transition in spirits,” says Mills. “When we launched it was overwhelming. I knew it was a good idea but I didn’t realise the interest there would be. I’m an airline person, not a spirits person. I came at it wanting something compact, light and sustainable. A lot of the independent brands see success with the airlines and a route to market, and that created a lot of interest.” In March 2024, Two Drifters, Ellers Farm, Penrhos, and Wildjac secured listings onboard EasyJet, while Black Cow and Wildjac are available on British Airways. In 2023, Bacardi quietly launched a 50ml 100%-recycled aluminium bottle of Grey Goose vodka on numerous airlines – the only big brand, so far, to do so.

In March 2024, Sapling Spirits announced a partnership with Virgin to list its “low-carbon” 50ml aluminium bottles onboard. While no claims of it being made from 100%-recycled aluminium were made, it later emerged that the first batch of bottles were made from virgin aluminium.

“We launched our first batch before we had completed our carbon accounting of the product, and learnt that aluminium is only a low-carbon option if it is made using recycled aluminium,” says Ivo Devereux, Sapling Spirits co-founder. “All of our batches since launch are now using 100%-PCR recycled aluminium which offers huge carbon reductions in relation to glass alternatives.” Ultimately, the travel market still uses 90% polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, adds Mills, and will need big brands to embrace aluminium to make a real difference.

Easy to source

More brands may not have explored aluminium because glass is more readily available and geared towards the needs of the spirits industry. And while new aluminium has its place, and is more easily sourced, securing a larger supply of PCR aluminium can be challenging.

“There are many glass bottle manufactures, but there aren’t many companies close to the UK offering recycled aluminium bottles suitable for the drinks industry,” notes Pierce. In 2022, Tecnocap launched the ‘first’ 100%-PCR-aluminium bottle for Re:Water, earning Metal Pack of the Year at the UK Packaging Awards. It was described as “one of the most disruptive and innovative products available”, which speaks volumes about the pace of 100%-PCR aluminium bottle production in the UK.

All aluminium containers also require a BPA-free plastic coating to ensure the container is safe. This is burnt off during the recycling process. Hyke’s liner is between “eight and 14 microns (μm)” thick – a human hair is around 70 μm. “In contrast, paper bottles often have a large solid plastic neck and screw piece that could end up in the wild,” adds Pierce.

In sustainability terms the impact of the amount of plastic involved is negligible, but you can’t claim to be 100% plastic-free. More significantly, it imposes a shelf life, typically two years, making its use for long-lived spirits problematic.

Bio liners are in development, notably by Notpla, which in 2022 was awarded the Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William, and £1 million (US$1.3m) to hasten development of its seaweed-based bio liner. But that may not solve the issue of shelf life.

Consumer trepidation towards aluminium is another factor. “There is a psychological association between the weight of an object and its perceived value,” adds Pierce. “Heavier items are considered more valuable because they require more material and effort to produce.”

Consumers are also unable to see the liquid in an aluminium bottle, which is problematic for brown spirits, but also off-putting if you need to see how much is left in the bottle, as bartenders do. But the upshot is that sunlight can’t affect the liquid. “We make a crème de cassis and it’s a very deep, dark red,” adds Jarron of Ogilvy Spirits. “We love aluminium because it doesn’t get tainted by sunlight so it retains its colour.”

Intricate designs

Additionally, aluminium cannot be moulded in the same way as glass. It’s likely that aluminium bottle manufacturing will evolve, but we are far off seeing de-standardised bottle shapes. Intricate bottle designs can be achieved, however. “They stand out because we haven’t seen anything like it,” adds Mills. “They are incredibly tactile, premium, and eye-catching.”

Other sustainable options are being developed. Absolut became the first global spirits brand to sell a paper-based bottle, in the UK, in 2023, in partnership with Paboco.

In March 2024, Aldi partnered with Frugalpac to introduce the “UK’s first supermarket own-brand paper wine bottle”. In 2022 A de Fussigny released its 2050 Organic Cognac in a Green Gen bottle, made from woven flax threads ‘impregnated’ with an organic resin.

Glass isn’t going anywhere, but we know other materials are infinitely less impactful, when used the right way. Aluminium is one of them. There is not yet a perfect solution, but the brands that are bold in their thinking will change the status quo.

Daniele Nicotra – business development and export sales manager, Reis Packaging“Reis Packaging Europe is always committed to developing innovative and sustainable packaging solutions for the food, wine and spirits sector. To uphold this dedication, we continuously seek to provide new suggestions to a rapidly changing market. One of the general trends is to lighten the containers without diminishing the premium impact of the final product. To meet this trend, we have launched new shapes and customisations that achieve exactly this goal: most of our premium spirits bottles with a 700ml capacity have an average glass weight of 600g, and a strong focus on design.”

Polona Poženel – digital marketing specialist, Hrastnik 1860“One of the biggest packaging trends that we are currently seeing on the market is connected with sustainability and technologies for emission reduction, for example hybrid and hydrogen-powered production. Additionally to that, light-weighting is another key trend. Without compromising the design and quality, it directly reduces environmental impact with less raw materials used. Furthermore, decorations are focusing on sustainable materials, including the use of single, eco-friendly materials and incorporating biodegradable decorations. These innovations collectively promote a more sustainable packaging industry, aligning with environmental priorities and consumer demands.”

In October 2023, Amorim Top Series opened two wood factories in Portugal. It was a significant development for the Portuguese closures producer, and its commitment to investing in its wood supply chain.

The factories mean Amorim can buy wood directly from the forest and retain better control over the wood supply chain and the quality of its final products.

The demands for packaging have evolved rapidly over the last few years, as sustainability has become a global priority. “Brands are reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible,” notes Daniela Mateus, marketing manager for Amorim Top Series. “Premium packaging is no exception. In ultra-premium and luxury packaging we are seeing wood replacing plastic and metal. Bio-based polymers and recycled materials are also in high demand as alternatives to plastic.”

As natural products, cork and wood are understandably also popular. “Amorim offers different options like ReCork and ReWood products for our tops that are made of scraps of cork and wood combined with recycled plastic or a bio-based polymer,” Mateus adds.

However, she believes the biggest concern for spirits producers regarding packaging is “to reduce the carbon footprint of packaging meeting 2025/2030 objectives, while maintaining the appeal and allure of luxury when you open a bottle of spirits”, Mateus continues.

“And here is the most exciting thing: combine a beautiful wooden top with a perfect natural cork shank and as basic as that, you can have the most simple, natural yet luxurious bar top that beats any other alternative when it comes to the carbon footprint.”

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