Single malts produced by Bruichladdich will be sold without their industry-standard tin in a pilot programme to reduce waste packaging from the Islay distillery.

The initiative will initially cover sales across the online shop and visitor centre, with preferences set to 'no tin' as a matter of default. Customers will have to purposefully select for a tin to be included when purchasing the Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte or Octomore single malts.

The distillery, owned by luxury drinks group Remy Cointreau since 2012, said the move is part of a "slow but steady" approach to eliminating all of its secondary packaging.

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Ambitious plans have been set to roll the initiative out globally. The volume of tins reduced from the web shop and visitor centre could potentially reach 15,000 annually, saving approximately 17 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Although a relatively small proportion of Bruichladdich’s overall business, plans have been set to roll out the initiative globally.

"As a business that places social and environmental progress at the heart of our decision making, we have an obligation to reduce our footprint and cut our carbon emissions wherever possible," chief executive Douglas Taylor said.

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"While we are tackling the most impactful alternatives in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, the marginal gains matter. A tin is an inevitable luxury that emits over 1kg of CO2 [equivalent] in its creation alone. It is our duty to phase them out wherever we can – producing less, transporting less and risking less packaging going to landfill."

In 2020, Bruichladdich became one of the only distilleries in the world to be B Corp certified, which is awarded to businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.