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IWA publishes sustainability roadmap
The Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) has outlined how the growth of the industry will pave the way for Ireland to host the world’s most sustainable distilleries and whiskey brands.
The Irish Whiskey Sustainable Together roadmap was published today (30 May).
It highlights the measures the industry will take to reduce its environmental and carbon impact, strengthen its role in the regenerative and circular economy, and deliver a positive impact for communities.
The roadmap is being supported by state agencies of both Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.
IWA director 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.
“We are committed to minimising the life-cycle environmental impact of our production practices and our supply chains while maximising our support for Irish farming and local suppliers.
“This roadmap will actively support the delivery of national climate targets. 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. People and place have been at the heart of Irish whiskey’s renaissance and our industry is proud of how we support communities and local economies across the island of Ireland.”
The measures outlined in the roadmap include: reducing water usage; supporting Irish farming and the circular economy; energy efficiency; tree planting; and working alongside the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan (AIPP) to support members and implement actions on distillery and maturation sites.
Supporting the principle of ‘less-water-in, less-effluent-out’, the roadmap sets a target of reducing the volumes of water used per litre of whiskey distilled. The IWA and Irish Water have agreed plans to deliver Water Stewardship training days for distilleries.
Additionally, the roadmap commits to increasing the industry’s annual purchase amount of Irish barley and malt from Irish farmers, as well as strengthening Irish whiskey’s place in the circular economy by continuing to repurpose the core materials used as high-quality animal feed.
The roadmap proposes signature projects to support innovation on energy efficiency within the industry.
“Enterprise Ireland welcomes the launch of the IWA Sustainability Roadmap and the sectors commitment to reducing carbon emissions,” commented Alexa Toomey, manager for Dairy, Drinks & Food FDI with Enterprise Ireland.
“Our strategy Leading in a Changing World highlights climate action as a transformational imperative for enterprise development to drive competitiveness and achieve climate action targets. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work in partnership with our clients to embed climate action as a strategic business priority, assisting enterprise activities to reduce emissions.”
The roadmap has also outlined how the growth of the Irish whiskey industry in recent years has supported both urban regeneration and rural communities, thanks to the creation of high quality jobs in communities across Ireland; repurposing vacant buildings for the development of distilleries; and generating €63 million (US$678m) revenue from distillery tourism.