SUSTAINABLE SPIRITS

"Above-and-beyond commitment to sustainability"

- The i Newspaper

"A green pioneer"

- Bar Magazine

"A sustainable spirit changing the world"

- The Spirits Business

Producing flavour-driven, sustainable drinks is at the core of what we do, because we believe drinking good spirits needn’t cost the Earth. On our travels we were lucky enough to experience some of the world’s most beautiful places, so it’s only natural we want to create and preserve these places for future generations to enjoy too. Read on to explore the actions we’ve taken to make sure this ethos becomes a reality.

ENGLAND’S FIRST NET ZERO ENERGY WHISKY

The entire Cooper King team is committed to producing sustainable spirits distilled with craftsmanship, honesty and adventure. That’s why our single malt whisky is the first whisky in England to be distilled using net zero energy.

This achievement is the result of six years’ dedication to sustainability, including carbon footprint reduction, and is 27 years ahead of the UK Government’s 2050 net zero target. View our report to find out more.

ENGLAND’S FIRST CARBON-NEGATIVE GIN

Every 700ml bottle of Herb or Dry Gin removes 1kg more CO₂e from the atmosphere than they emit, making them England’s first carbon-negative gins. Click here to learn more and view our Carbon Report.

WILDFLOWER HABITAT RESTORATION

One square metre of UK wildflower habitat is restored for every bottle of vodka or liqueur sold, thanks to our charity partnership with YDMT. We’ve restored nearly 2,000 square metres so far, which supports an abundance of wildlife, reduces habitat fragmentation and ensures they continue to act as significant carbon sinks.

PLASTIC-FREE POSTAGE

Choosing to ship bottles in a patented, honeycomb sleeve - made from 100% recycled paper - has eliminated the need for plastic packing materials such as bubble wrap and inflatable packs. Any packing material we do use is made from waste cardboard which we shred at the distillery ourselves.

ENERGY AND WATER USE

Cold-distilling our gins and vodkas - using efficient and innovative vacuum stills - means we use just 10% of the energy required to run a traditional copper still. We save water too. Instead of relying on fresh water to cool the condensers, we use a closed-loop system to recycle coolant over and over, saving us a whopping 26 tonnes of water a year.

On the whisky-side of production, we’ve recently developed a new system to reduce our energy and water use. We’ve achieved a 21% reduction by using a cutting edge, insulating paint developed for NASA, and by capturing and recycling hot water from the distillation process.

LIGHTWEIGHT BOTTLES

Most premium spirits are packaged in heavy glass bottles to give a perceived quality. We bucked the trend by using a lightweight alternative - weighing 250 grams less than the average spirits bottle - made from 55% recycled glass. This requires less raw materials, decreases transport emissions and saves money - meaning you pay for the liquid inside, not the bottle.

SOURCING LOCAL

Raw materials are sourced as close as possible to the point of distillation. We have our own-beehives which supply delicious raw honey for our gins and we’ve been growing trial batches of lemongrass and juniper on site too. The barley used in Cooper King whisky is all grown in England and the wheat for the gin is all grown in Yorkshire. Even the raspberries and lavender used in some of our spirits are grown within 15 miles of the distillery. Sourcing high-quality ingredients close-to-home means we can celebrate terroir, support English growers and dramatically reduce food miles.

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS

The stoppers in Cooper King bottles are made from FSC certified wood, with a shank produced from an innovative material called NEOS. This is made from a combination of raw, bio-based materials - derived from renewable sugar cane - and recycled polymers. It's co-injected into the wooden head, which means it is almost unbreakable and requires no glue.

The tamper proof seals used on our bottles are made in the UK from sustainably sourced wood cellulose – rather than plastic - and will biodegrade in your home compost in 12 weeks.

ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL

After each distillation run we send the spent botanicals to a renowned bakery - Haxby Bakehouse - to be upcycled into delicious breads and pastry glazes, or we compost them on site (the compost smells delicious!). The compost is then used to grow next year’s botanicals. On the whisky side, the spent barley grains from the brewing process are collected every week by a local farmer who feeds the fibre-rich feed to his cattle. All other waste is either recycled or sent to a state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plant 17 miles away, which generates power for local homes. Zero waste is sent to landfill.