Posted: Monday, December 12, 2011 3:40 pm

Captain Morga, a Diageo brand

Drinks manufacturer, Diageo has published it's first sustainable packaging guidelines with the aim of achieving sustainable business status.

Representing the company's global policy on ensuring packaging is increasingly sustainable, the guidelines reflect the Diageo's commitment to a holistic approach to reducing it's overall impact on the environment across the whole of it's value chain.

Diageo owns brands such as Captain Morgan (pictured), Guinness, Smirnoff and Bailey's. The company's approach is based on the common principles of 'reduce, reuse, recycle', and it pledges to work closely with suppliers and other stakeholders to manage and reduce the environmental impact at every stage of production.

By 2015 Diageo will aim to reduce the average unit weight of product packaging by 10%, ensure all packaging designs are reusable, recyclable or suitable for waste management, and increase the amount of recycled content used in packaging materials by 20%.

In the publication the company acknowledge that it is notoriously difficult to market sustainable packaging in the drinks and spirits sector, as the product is perceived to lose it's premium feel. However, the company expresses determination in the achievement of it's proposed targets.

Commenting on the publication of the guidelines, Andy Fennell, chief marketing officer, said: "Packaging is vital in delivering and protecting our valuable brands - and increasingly customers and consumers are demanding more sustainable packs from all leading consumer goods companies...These new guidelines will be adopted throughout our business to ensure we drive year on year improvements."