Vanessa Wright (left) and Carine Christophe (right).Sustainability isn’t a new focus for Pernod Ricard, the global wine and spirits company whose portfolio includes familiar names like Absolut Vodka, Chivas Regal, Jameson, Kahlúa, and Seagram’s.
This year, however, the company introduced a 2030 roadmap linking the company’s sustainability and responsibility strategy directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Decreasing pressure on finite resources is a big part of that move.
“In adopting a circular mindset, we’re thinking about how we can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and drive innovation,” says Vanessa Wright, Pernod Ricard’s VP of global sustainability.
Recently Wright and group environmental manager Carine Christophe spoke about working toward circularity with the company’s 87 affiliates worldwide.
How does circularity fit into Pernod Ricard’s sustainability strategy?
Vanessa Wright: We have four pillars — nurturing terroir, valuing people, circular making, and responsible hosting. Nurturing terroir recognizes that all of our products come from nature. Circular making is about adopting the principles of a circular economy, and looking at the way that we create, consume, recycle, and reuse.
Part of the commitment within that pillar is to be 100% recyclable, compostable, reusable, or bio-based for all our packaging by 2025. Another is to make sure we have no single-use plastic in point-of-sale material by 2025. We just launched new sustainable packaging guidelines that give direction on what materials can and can’t be used for the future.
What is the business case for setting circularity goals?
Carine Christophe: We know there are limitations related to resources. If we don’t avoid the use of resources in the long-term, we will not be able to grow as we are growing now. So it is very important to make these circularity commitments. It’s also a consumer expectation. Consumers are asking for more reusable and recyclable packaging. They don’t want packaging in hand that they cannot put in a recycling bin.
Wright: To add to that, if you’re reducing the weight of the glass, you’re reducing transport costs.
How are you pursuing circularity, especially for packaging?
Christophe: Around 99% of our packaging is technically recyclable, but where the recycling rates are low, we want to increase them.
Wright: We’ve got recycling initiatives in different countries, but we want to work with 10 of our key markets to improve the recycling rates. As part of that, we’re looking at all elements of our packaging, seeing how we can increase the recycled content and reduce the weight. We’re also a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.
The other thing is we’re looking to pilot projects that rethink how we distribute our products. Do our products always have to be in a single glass bottle? What other ways can we think about distributing or reusing the bottles that we already have? For example, in India they have an initiative where they collect and reuse the bottles.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve encountered so far in adopting a circular approach?
Christophe: For many years we had a linear model. The main challenge is changing the way employees think and design products to be circular. Another is engagement within the industry. There are a lot of projects we have to do collaboratively.
How are you addressing these challenges?
Christophe: We are working with the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable, a global organization that includes major companies from the beverage industries like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Diageo, Heineken, and Carlsberg.
Wright: We’re also learning from the other people involved in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
And internally?
Wright: We’re talking to our marketing and operations communities, and sharing the new guidelines. When they’re designing a product, from the very beginning they need to be thinking about the materials used and end-of-life. We have tremendous support from the senior management team on this.
For all of the employees, we have something called Responsib’ALL Day. In the past it was mainly around responsible drinking, but this year we linked it to SDG 12, sustainable consumption. All 19,000 employees stopped working for one day and were involved in initiatives related to recycling, reusing, remaking to help people understand what circularity means.
What is your advice for other industry leaders seeking to introduce a more circular mindset to their businesses?
Wright: Getting understanding at the ground level from all employees is absolutely crucial. Involvement and support from the senior people within the business is key.
Christophe: The important thing is to explain the rationale for doing this. Explain the risks and opportunities. And allow an entrepreneurial spirit so that employees can transform the way they do business.
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