Diageo facilities gain notice for environmental excellence

Four Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E) facilities were recently named winners of California’s Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) in recognition of their green initiatives. Beaulieu Vineyard has been the recipient of the prestigious WRAP award 17 times, and this year Sterling Vineyards and the DC&E Wines Carneros Bottling and Distribution Center were recognized a second time for accomplishments in reducing their environmental impact, and DC&E Paicines Operations received its inaugural win.

“At Diageo, we are committed to improving our operations to minimize our environmental footprint,” said Sandra LeDrew, president of sales for DC&E. “As an industry leader, we take our responsibility to the environment and our local communities very seriously. Being recognized by WRAP is a great honor.”

During the 2008 calendar year, Beaulieu Vineyard continued to find inventive ways to reduce, reuse, recycle or rethink the end-life use for 1,504 tons of waste, and diverted items from the waste stream such as: used barrels, grape stems and pomace, glass, cardboard, metals, and paper. The vineyard enacted a new water reuse program, which resulted in a savings of 49,202 gallons of water for the facility.

Sterling Vineyards, certified this year as a Napa Valley Green Certified Winery, kept more than 1,300 tons of solid waste from going to landfill through organized waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting efforts. This included sending out 964 tons of grape stems and pomace to a local composting facility, and shipping out nearly 800 barrels for reuse as planters. The winery also recycled 259 tons of material, earning more than $6,000; 100 percent of the earnings were donated to local charities.

The DC&E Carneros Bottling and Distribution Center recycled approximately 590 tons of material this year, including: glass, wood pallets and various packaging materials. In addition, the center made improvements to its recycling program by implementing a pallet recycling system that resulted in more than 200,000 pounds of recycled materials. The site has generated more than $12,000 from its recycling programs, and $46,000 in annual energy savings. The center reduced its waste to landfill by 30 percent in 2008, and has an ultimate goal of delivering zero waste to landfills by 2015.

DC&E Paicines Operations, striving to become a leader in San Benito County in environmental stewardship, diverted nearly 2,250 tons of solid waste from the landfill through highly organized waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting efforts in 2008. Among Paicines’ environmental initiatives was also a retrofitting of existing light fixtures with high-efficiency pulse-start metal halide light fixtures and occupancy sensors, which illuminate only when someone is nearby. The fixture retrofit will use approximately half as much energy as before, and occupancy sensors will further reduce energy use. The project is estimated to save at least 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

WRAP is a program developed in 1993 by the California Integrated Waste Management Board to recognize businesses for outstanding efforts to reduce waste through unique recycling programs. Since its inception, more than 17,500 awards have been awarded to over 4,000 separate California businesses.

About Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines
Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E) is part of Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business. DC&E produces and markets premium wines from around the globe including Napa Valley, Sonoma, the California Central Coast, Washington, France, New Zealand and Australia. Brands include: Beaulieu Vineyard, Sterling Vineyards, Sterling Vintner’s Collection, Chalone Vineyard, Acacia Vineyard, Edna Valley Vineyard and Rosenblum Cellars as well as the French wines of Barton & Guestier. DC&E is also a leading importer of classified Bordeaux and Burgundy estate-bottled wines and F.E. Trimbach.

Diageo’s broader business includes an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wine and beer including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan and Crown Royal.

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