Closed loop spirits packaging sets sail on more cruise ships

ecoSPIRITS has partnered with Carnival Cruise Line and Bacardi Limited to extend closed loop spirits packaging to more cruise ships following a successful pilot.

The initial pilot, announced in August 2023, involved delivering BACARDÍ Superior rum to three Carnival ships in ecoSPIRITS’ ecoTOTE format, aiming to reduce single-use glass waste in the tourism and hospitality industry. This initiative will now be expanded to include an additional ship operating from the Port of Miami, Florida, with plans for more vessels from other U.S. cruise ports to join later in 2024.

The pilot phase, running from late August 2023 to the end of March 2024, saw BACARDÍ Superior delivered in ecoTOTE format to Carnival Celebration, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Sunrise. This effort saved tens of thousands of single-use glass bottles, eliminating over 38,000 pounds of packaging waste. Additionally, the ecoSPIRITS Oceans Program funded the recovery of more than 6,000 pounds of ocean waste from endangered marine environments.

To support the wider use of its circular packaging technology on cruise ships, ecoSPIRITS has introduced the SmartPour™ SHV 1.0S. This new bottle refilling unit, developed with Carnival and Bacardi, is designed to make onboard beverage operations more efficient. It refills bottles faster than the previous SmartPour 2.0S used during the pilot. The SmartPour SHV 1.0S complements the ecoTOTE 3.0SC, an enhanced version of the ecoTOTE tailored for cruise ship needs.

Zdenek Kastanek, Managing Director, ecoSPIRITS USA, said: The cruise line sector has been on our radar in terms of waste saving potential for several years. It is even more exciting to see ecoSPIRITS, Carnival Cruise Line and Bacardi clearly showing that circular is the way forward for spirits in this industry. We are delighted that Carnival is now expanding the use of ecoSPIRITS, taking BACARDÍ Superior in ecoTOTE format to a wider fleet within the Miami hub and adding other Florida ports later this year. Ultimately this shared success means ecoSPIRITS is now an option for a wider audience as we work towards eliminating single use glass waste in this sector globally.

Delivering spirits in ecoTOTE format reduced packaging waste by 95% compared to traditional glass bottles and improved the efficiency of onboard deliveries by saving both weight and space. ecoSPIRITS and Carnival are also working on new technology extensions to support high-volume beverage operations on cruise ships.