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Alko is a member of an international Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organization called amfori Business Social Compliance Iniative (amfori BSCI). It is a non-profit organization, the aim of which is to improve the social responsibility of supply chains worldwide. In addition to the ethical principles, the organization offers tools, such as the self-assessment form, training in the country of production and in the member countries, manuals, third party audits as well as a database for supply chains audits.
The process of responsible purchasing is based on UN compacts and initiatives as well as other relevant internationally recognized conventions and directives. The aim is to create, for the procurement of alcoholic beverages, operative and follow-up principles with which it is possible to influence ethical practices of the suppliers of alcoholic beverages and draw attention to the principles of sustainable development.
As a amfori BSCI-member we require strong commitment from our suppliers and the companies that belong to or participate in our procurements supply chain. All our suppliers of alcoholic beverages must commit themselves with their signature to the ethical principles, to abiding by these principles and to actively promoting them.
Amfori BSCI Code of Conduct and its enclosures constitute a compact document which must be read and interpreted in its entity. The set consists of the following documents, which you will find below as attachments:
- amfori BSCI Code of Conduct
- Terms of Implementation for Participants (Alko)
- Terms of Implementation for Business Partners (Seller)
- Terms of Implementation of Business Partners to be involved in the BSCI monitoring process (Producer, Manufacturer)
- amfori BSCI Glossary
- amfori BSCI Reference
Please find attached adjustment to Listing procedure 6 June 2017, chapter trading conditions, conditions for responsible purchasing:
Principles for the case by case evaluation when a producer’s subcontractor is not respecting the Conditions for responsible purchasing.
Environmental impacts of alcoholic beverages’ supply chain
Alko together with the Nordic Alcohol Monopolies commissioned a life cycle analysis of alcoholic beverages from 2.-0 LCA Consultants, Denmark in 2015. The purpose of the study was to document the total environmental impact of the product portfolio of the Nordic Alcohol Monopolies, expressing the environmental impacts in monetary units, in addition to the underlying physical units. The analysis was based on the volumes of alcoholic beverages distributed by the Nordic Alcohol Monopolies in 2014 and covers product categories of wine, beer and distilled beverages.
The largest contributing life cycle stages, contributing more than half of the total impacts, are:
- Packaging manufacturing – especially glass. This is partly alleviated by efficient recycling in the Nordic countries
- Agriculture fuel use
- Production – especially breweries and distilleries
The study covers worldwide supply chain of alcoholic beverages and based on it the potential differences between producers are likely to be more important than differences between countries.
Alko uses these results to improve its environmental strategy of responsible purchasing. The summary of the study and the original full study report can be found on the right margin on this page.
Environmental impacts of wine packaging
In the spring 2018 Alko commissioned a study on the environmental impacts and carbon footprint of different wine packaging types. Based on the study by Gaia Consulting Oy, a Finnish consulting company, the bag-in-boxes, beverage cartons and wine pouches have the smallest climate impacts per a liter of wine. In bottled wines the most climate friendly packaging type is a PET bottle.
Gaia Consulting calculated the CO2e footprint based on different wine package types in the assortments of Alko, Systembolaget (Sweden) and Vinmonopolet (Norway). The calculation includes only the load from the production of the packages. The other background information used were the wine production countries and their respective sales volume in 2017, based on which the average emissions for each packaging material were calculated.
In addition to CO2e emissions, wine packaging materials and development in that area were studied in terms of recyclability and trashing. Alko is especially interested in
- Recycled material, rPET in particular, and other light weight and easily recyclable materials like aluminum
- Totally new, environmentally friendly material innovations
- Sustainability certifications for product packaging and packaging materials.
From the ongoing plastics and littering discussion’s perspective it is crucial to continue improving the functioning of recycling:
- Deposit system
- Replacement of problematic combinations (e.g. PET bottles with metal closure) with better solutions (e.g. PET bottles with PET closure)
Emissions caused by heavy glass bottles are multiplied in logistics. This is a topic that will be also studied in the near future.
The study can be found on the right margin on this page.
