The biggest plastic polluting companies on the planet are beverage companies, it’s a fact. When you look at the statistics, it is staggering to see the amount of plastic water bottles and soda bottles that are sold everyday, and inevitably end up in our oceans and in landfills. It is this sad fact that makes us realize something needs to be done about this, and we have to look towards supporting sustainable companies in the trillion dollar beverage industry that are making an effort to be more conscious of the waste they create.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Koskenkorva Vodka, a Finnish vodka company, that is making a huge effort to be more environmentally friendly. In 2018, Koskenkorva won the Green Awards for their sustainable efforts, and since then have been on the radar of Green.Org. It is important for consumers to support companies like this, companies that make a progressive effort to eliminate waste from their product development.
50% DECREASE IN CO2 EMISSIONS SINCE 2014
At the Koskenkorva distillery, they have their own bioenergy power plant. It is specially designed to use the barley husks that are left over from the distillation as fuel for producing steam energy, which is then used for the distillation. Thanks to the renewable fuel, they have been able to decrease their CO2 emissions by over 50% since 2014, and they are now 60% self-sufficient in terms of steam generation for the distillery.
99.9% RECYCLING AND REUTILIZATION RATE
As mentioned, their distillery’s recycling and reutilization rate is 99.9%. Which means they recycle literally everything. Like the ashes from their bioenergy plant that they use to fertilize the barley fields.
100% USAGE OF BARLEY GRAIN
Their distillery uses 100% of the barley grain. This zero-waste mentality has been passed on from generation to generation to generation at Koskenkorva. What they can’t use for vodka goes into making animal feed and paper. And as you might know by now, the rest is used as fuel to run their bioenergy power plant.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This means that if companies like Koskenkorva Vodka can lead the way in the trillion dollar beverage industry, so can other giants like Coke Cola, Budweiser, and Nestle. Consumers need to make it known to these companies that sustainability is an important part of their decision buying process.
