An innovative circular economy technology company ecoSPIRITS and leading family-owned spirits company Bacardi are collaborating on a pilot program to introduce closed-loop packaging to the cruise industry aboard Carnival Cruise Line ships.

By using ecoSPIRITS’ re-usable containers, Carnival ships can reduce single-use packaging by 95 percent by serving Bacardi rum in re-usable containers.

Carnival Celebration, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Sunrise are being used for three months to test the concept.

“Our beverage team, ecoSPIRITS and Bacardi are working together to achieve our sustainability goals, and the collaboration is a great example of how to think outside of the box, or in this case out of the bottle, in order to develop new partnerships and practices that will further our ongoing efforts,” said Zachary Sulkes, Carnival Cruise Line senior director of beverage operations.

Designed specifically for the maritime environment, ecoSPIRITS created the ecoTOTE3.0SC Cruise Edition, a specialized version of its patent-pending closed loop glass packaging format. The ecoTOTEs replace approximately four bottles of Bacardi Superior rum and each one is used, cleaned, and refilled approximately 100 times, creating a closed loop.

According to Carnival, the rum was chosen for the pilot because it is among the most-ordered spirits throughout the fleet and can be found in many craft cocktails.

Using ecoSPIRITS’ SmartPour technology, rum will be transferred from ecoTOTE to serving format.

Bacardi Superior rum cocktails will be served from new silver and red SmartPours branded with the Bacardi brand.

According to Rodolfo Nervi, Bacardi Vice President, Global Safety, Quality & Sustainability, “To achieve our goal of becoming the world’s most environmentally responsible spirits company, we are continually searching for ways to deliver our beautiful drinks in more sustainable packaging and formats, contributing to the development of a more sustainable future.”

This trial will open new doors for us in our mission to create closed loop packaging, which has been a top priority for us for several years.”