Bacardi removes straws from corporate events

Bacardi has taken its environmental campaign further by launching an in-house initiative to remove straws and stirrers from cocktails at company events.

Bacardi said its ‘No Straws’ initiative shows the group is “part of the solution”

Launched as part of Bacardi’s Good Spirited environmental campaign, the group’s ‘No Straw’ movement will see straws and stirrers removed from its North America regional headquarters in Florida and its Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Hampshire, UK.

Bacardi joins the National Parks as well as a number of hotels, restaurants and bars in implementing the initiative.

The group claims that straws and stirrers are among the most collected pieces of rubbish in the ocean, and also cites a report stating that if the 500 million straws used and discarded each day in the US alone, you would be able to wrap around the globe two-and-a-half times

“Plastic straws don’t biodegrade, and their use is ubiquitous across many industries including the spirits market,” said Ian McLaren, director of trade advocacy for Bacardi.

“We are resolved to be part of the solution, and this includes reducing the amount of waste we produce.”

By asking employees to use metal stirrers and drink without using straws during in-house happy hour, Bacardi expects to save 12,000 straws and stirrers from landfills annually.

The group has been tracking its global impact on the environment since 2006, and since then has improved its water use efficiency by 46% and reduced greenhouse gas intensity ratio by nearly 45%.

Last year, Bacardi’s Scotch whisky arm John Dewar & Sons opened a new blending and ageing facility in central Scotland that was said to combine “industrial innovation with environmental sustainability”.