A Scottish distillery is assessing the viability of offering its whisky in lightweight, recyclable aluminium packaging instead of glass.
Stirling Distillery, a small distillery based in the Scottish town of Stirling, has teamed up with scientists at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University to test how its whisky behaves when stored in aluminium rather than traditional glass bottles.
Aluminium bottles are light and thin while remaining strong, which would help cut down on shipping weight, transport costs and energy use. Compared to glass, it is also more readily and easily recyclable.
Kathryn Holm, marketing director at Stirling Distillery, said: “Glass has long been central to whisky’s image; it’s weighty, and evokes the craftsmanship of the spirit. But it is also heavy to transport and relies on high recycling rates to reduce its environmental impact.
“We want to make our distillery as sustainable as possible ahead of our first mature whisky being released in 2027.”
Researchers at Heriot-Watt...