Lightweight Glass, Packaging and Greenwashing

A 700 ml whisky bottle weighing just 180 g, without its closure: Diageo unveiled Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra on 13 September 2024. It is a striking example of how little glass a bottle can use. The harder question is what that saving means for the environment. [1]

A useful packaging claim explains what has been reduced, what the comparison includes and whether it covers the whole pack. Those principles sit at the heart of the UK's Green Claims Code. [10]

Why whisky packaging deserves attention

Packaging accounts for 16% of Irish whiskey emissions in the Irish Whiskey Association's 2022 roadmap, primarily through glass bottles. That makes it a substantial part of the industry's environmental work, alongside distillery energy, water and raw materials. The figure describes the roadmap's findings, rather than every whisky producer or bottle. [5]

The Scotch Whisky Association's 2021 strategy set a target for all new product packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025; achievement is not established here. Read packaging claims alongside the wider questions in sustainability in whisky. One material change cannot describe the environmental performance of a whole business. [4]

Lightweight glass: what the grams include

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra shows both the possibilities and the current limits of lightweight glass. Diageo describes it as the lightest 700 ml Scotch whisky glass bottle to the best of the brand's knowledge and research, rather than an independently established world record. [1]

The bottle was hand blown and hand filled, according to Diageo, with only 888 bottles planned. The company says the technology is not yet available for permanent production at that weight at scale. It also offered its UK design patent for licensing royalty free and on a non exclusive basis. [1]

Less glass can mean lower production emissions. Citing British Glass, Diageo says each gram removed means over half a gram less carbon in production, with savings expressly described as “project and product dependent”. That qualification matters: the figure is not a universal conversion formula for every lighter bottle. [1]

Recycled glass tells a different story

Recycled content and bottle weight measure different changes. The Irish Whiskey Association's roadmap gives producer examples of up to 80% recycled glass for Jameson bottles and 75% for Teeling Small Batch. It also reports that Bart's Irish Whiskey uses a bottle 35% lighter than similar bottles, according to the producer. None of these percentages can stand in for another. [5]

The same 2022 roadmap reports an EU glass packaging recycling rate of 76% and a Close the Glass Loop ambition of 90% by 2030. One is a reported rate, the other a target; neither determines where an individual bottle will end up. The association also asks members to examine bottling in market to reduce shipping emissions from empty and filled bottles. [5]

Paper packaging: look beyond the bottle body

A paper bottle can still contain plastic and have a stopper that cannot be recycled. In July 2020, Diageo announced a plastic free, paper based bottle intended to debut on Johnnie Walker in early 2021. Its September 2024 Johnnie Walker Black Label trial used a bottle described as 90% paper, with “a very thin plastic liner”. The trial comprised 250 bottles in one Edinburgh bar, unavailable for the public to buy. Its stopper was not recyclable. [2][3]

Diageo described the bottle as about 60% lighter, with “up to 47% potential reduction in carbon emissions”. Those figures excluded the closure. The savings remained to be confirmed, as did the recyclability of future versions. The claim therefore concerns a potential saving within a stated boundary, rather than a verified reduction for a complete commercial pack. [2]

What the packaging rules cover

Packaging regulation governs what producers must do; green claims guidance governs what businesses can say. The rules differ by jurisdiction, and their dates matter.

Scotland's scheme must be reviewed, including its materials, by 1 October 2032. It covers containers from 150 ml to 3 litres; the policy note places containers outside that range under packaging Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR. Defra describes UK packaging EPR as transferring responsibility for household packaging waste disposal from taxpayers and local authorities to producers. [6][7]

The EUR-Lex summary of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 says packaging must minimise weight and volume while maintaining functionality. Marketing or consumer acceptance does not justify extra weight or volume. It also describes a ban on designs that increase perceived volume, such as false bottoms or double walls, unless protected by design rights or trademarks. All packaging must be recyclable, with recycling at scale required from 2035. [8]

How to assess a green claim

Start with the wording, then check what sits behind it. The UK Competition and Markets Authority's Green Claims Code, published on 20 September 2021, asks businesses to make claims that are truthful, clear, complete, fair in comparison, substantiated and attentive to the full life cycle. Its recycling guidance also requires clarity about whether a claim covers the whole product and packaging or only part. A bottle, liner and stopper may have different characteristics. [10]

1. Name the change. Is the claim about bottle weight, recycled content, recyclability or emissions? The Irish examples show why these are separate measures, not interchangeable descriptions of an environmentally preferable pack. [5]
2. Find the comparison. What is the lighter bottle being compared with? Are the same components included? A weight excluding the closure is not the weight of the whole pack. [1][2]
3. Separate potential from measured savings. Keep “potential” and “up to” when reporting Diageo's paper bottle figures. Without them, a qualified projection becomes a claim of an achieved saving. [2]
4. Check every component. A recycling claim should identify its scope. A paper body does not make the liner and stopper recyclable, and a claim about one part does not automatically cover everything supplied. [2][10]
5. Ask for the wider boundary. UK advertising rules require environmental claims to consider the full life cycle unless the advertisement states otherwise. A narrower claim must make its scope clear, without implying an overall environmental verdict. [12]

Responsibility also runs along the supply chain. The CMA's guidance of 22 January 2026 says both manufacturer and retailer may be liable for a misleading green claim; simply stocking a product can repeat its maker's claim. An innocent breach remains a breach, the CMA says. [11]

The CMA says its powers under the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 took effect in April 2025, allowing it to decide breaches and impose a fine without going to court. Separately, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority says CAP Code rule 11.3 warns against exaggeration and absolute environmental claims. Important qualifications belong beside the main message, where readers can see them. [11][12]

What a useful packaging statement looks like

A useful statement separates the physical change from the environmental conclusion. For lightweight glass, look for bottle size, weight and whether the closure is included. For recycled glass, look for stated recycled content, not a recycling target. For a trial material, keep the trial status and the limits of the published figures in view. These details make a claim understandable and allow a meaningful comparison. [1][2][5]

Where to go next

• Sustainability in Whisky: The Complete Guide: place packaging within the wider subject.
• Energy in Whisky Production: Fuels, Heat and Renewables: explore the production energy questions behind the pack.
• Wood and Cask Sustainability: take a separate look at another material used in whisky.

Sources

[1] Diageo. Johnnie Walker unveils world's lightest whisky glass bottle. Producer's account, 13 September 2024.
https://www.diageo.com/en/news-and-media/press-releases/2024/johnnie-walker-unveils-worlds-lightest-whisky-glass-bottle

[2] Diageo. Diageo launches first 70cl paper-based bottle on-trade trial for Johnnie Walker. Producer's account, 24 September 2024.
https://www.diageo.com/en/news-and-media/press-releases/2024/diageo-launches-first-70cl-paper-based-bottle-on-trade-trial-for-johnnie-walker

[3] The Spirits Business. Diageo creates paper bottle for Johnnie Walker. 13 July 2020.
https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2020/07/diageo-creates-paper-bottle-for-johnnie-walker/

[4] Scotch Whisky Association. Scotch Whisky Commits to Reach Net-Zero by 2040 with Launch of New Sustainability Strategy. Industry strategy announcement, 2021.
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/scotch-whisky-commits-to-reach-net-zero-by-2040-with-launch-of-new-sustainability-strategy/

[5] Drinks Ireland, Irish Whiskey Association. Sustainable Together: Sustainability Roadmap 2022. 2022 edition.
https://www.ibec.ie/drinksireland/-/media/documents/drinks-ireland-new-website/irish-whiskey/iwa-sustainability-roadmap-2022.pdf

[6] Scottish Government, published by legislation.gov.uk. Policy Note: The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/188). 2025.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2025/188/pdfs/ssipn_20250188_en_001.pdf

[7] Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Extended producer responsibility for packaging. GOV.UK guidance collection, version recorded in the fact sheet, November 2026.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging

[8] EUR-Lex. Packaging and packaging waste (from 2026): Summary of Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Summary of the 2025 Regulation, version recorded in the fact sheet, November 2026.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/packaging-and-packaging-waste-from-2026.html

[9] European Commission. Sustainable consumption. Guidance covering Directive (EU) 2024/825, version recorded in the fact sheet, November 2026.
https://commission.europa.eu/topics/consumers/consumer-rights-and-complaints/sustainable-consumption_en

[10] Competition and Markets Authority. Making environmental claims on goods and services (Green Claims Code). 20 September 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-claims-code-making-environmental-claims/environmental-claims-on-goods-and-services

[11] Competition and Markets Authority. Making green claims: Getting it right, across the supply chain. 22 January 2026.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-green-claims-getting-it-right-across-the-supply-chain/making-green-claims-getting-it-right-across-the-supply-chain

[12] Advertising Standards Authority. Environmental claims: General "Green" claims. CAP advice, version recorded in the fact sheet, November 2026.
https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/environmental-claims-general-green-claims.html

Prepared as desk research from the site's verified A630 fact sheet and its cited company accounts, industry publications and official guidance.

Last checked: November 2026