Diageo, the maker of Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker, improved water use efficiency by 30 percent in 2015 against a 2007 baseline, according to its 2015 integrated annual report. Year-over-year water efficiency improved 10 percent.
In water-stressed locations, the company has reduced water wasted by 33.4 percent. At Diageo’s breweries in Kaasi, Ghana, and at its two sites in Nigeria, for example, water use per liter brewed has been reduced by 29 percent and 4 percent, respectively, through water management and operational efficiency improvements.
Diageo achieved a 9 percent reduction in GHG emissions in 2015 compared to 2014. Since 2007, the company has reduced GHG emissions by 33 percent, falling short of its 50 percent target. Diageo attributes this to the expansion of the business through acquisition and volume growth.
In 2015, Diageo reduced waste to landfill by 48.5 percent compared to 2014, and by 85 percent since 2007, coming close to achieving its goal of eliminating waste to landfill altogether. The company reports progress in improving how it segregates waste to enable recovery and reuse, reducing the amount of material used and finding alternative uses for waste including in agriculture, recycling and recovering waste for energy.
Diageo achieved a 1 percent year-over-year reduction in average packaging weight, contributing to a cumulative 7 percent reduction since 2009. Recycled content increased by 1.5 percent between 2014 and 2015, reaching an overall average of 39 percent since 2009. In 2015, the company reports that 98.6 percent of its packaging is reusable or recyclable. Among its sustainable packaging improvements were the removal of the glass handle from Smirnoff 1.75 liter glass bottles and the light-weighting of Bell’s whisky bottles.
Diageo announced its 2020 sustainability targets in December 2014.