Ireland aims to have world's most sustainable whiskey distilleries

A new all-island roadmap published today (Monday, May 30) by the Irish Whiskey Association is aiming to make Irish distilleries the most sustainable in the world.

'Irish Whiskey Sustainable Together' outlines how the industry will reduce its environmental and carbon impact and strengthen its role in the regenerative and circular economy.

As Irish whiskey is of one of the leading all-island industries, the new roadmap is being supported by state agencies Enterprise Ireland and Invest NI.

Some of the measures in the plan include:

Commenting on the publication of the roadmap, the director of the Irish Whiskey Association, William Lavelle, said:

“The roadmap is about an industry working together and sharing knowledge with a shared ambition to make Ireland the home of the world’s most sustainable distilleries.

“Some Irish whiskey distilleries will reach net-zero very quickly and through the knowledge transfer projects set-out in the roadmap we will support all distilleries to make the transition, particularly the two-thirds of our members who are SMEs.

“This is not just an environmental strategy. The roadmap also addresses the importance of economic and social sustainability," Lavelle stated.

Recent research by Fáilte Ireland has shown that visitors to distilleries in 2019 spent €63 million in local communities.

Vacant buildings in 17 towns and villages across Ireland have been re-purposed for the development of distilleries.

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