Carnival Cruise Line Collaborates with Bacardi to Test Closed-Loop Packaging Initiative for Beverages
A new pilot program is introducing closed-loop packaging aboard Carnival Cruise Line ships through a collaboration that includes Bacardi and ecoSPIRITS, a circular economy technology company.
The pilot will determine if re-usable containers developed by ecoSPIRITS can be used to serve Bacardi rum on Carnival ships, in turn reducing single-use packaging by 95 percent. The concept is being tested for three months on three ships operating from Miami: Carnival Celebration, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Sunrise.
“As we continue to work towards our sustainability goals, the collaborative work of our beverage team, ecoSPIRITS, and Bacardi is a great example of thinking in ways that are truly out-of-thebox, or in this case—out-of-the-bottle, to develop new partnerships and practices that further our ongoing efforts,” said Zachary Sulkes, senior director of beverage operations at Carnival Cruise Line.
To support the new collaboration with Bacardi and Carnival, ecoSPIRITS created a specialized version of its closed loop glass packaging format, the ecoTOTE 3.0SC Cruise Edition, specifically for the maritime environment.
Each ecoTOTE replaces approximately four bottles of Bacardi Superior rum and each one is used, cleaned, and refilled approximately 100 times.
The rum was selected for the pilot, as it is among the most-ordered spirits across the fleet and a staple of some of the most popular craft cocktails. The rum will be transferred from ecoTOTE to serving format using ecoSPIRITS’ SmartPour technology.
New silver and red Bacardi-branded SmartPours will be placed in select bars on the three ships for beverage team members to serve cocktails featuring Bacardi Superior rum.
Currently, Carnival recycles single-use glass items. Each ship in the fleet is outfitted with a recycling center, where crew members sort paper, plastic, and glass recyclables. Last year, Carnival processed more than 11 million pounds of recyclables.