The Sustainability Council was formed in recognition of the need for industry-wide collaboration to address growing ESG requirements and meet the expectations of Drinks Association members and consumers.
The council serves as a forum to accelerate and amplify the industry’s collective impact to deliver sustainable change. Steered by key pillars to engage, educate and elevate the Drinks Association membership on issues of decarbonisation, sustainable packaging and design and good governance.
Utilising the strengths of our Council members we have three clear workstreams that are committed to:
- delivering tools and templates to enable industry members to access education materials to inform decisions, inspire action and enhance outcomes for your businesses
- communicating and engaging on sustainability topics for the Drinks Association’s member businesses
- collaborating with customers to identify innovation and supply chain opportunities supporting carbon reduction and the circular economy
During the Council’s first twelve months we have:
- established our three-year strategy, officially endorsed by the Board in October 2024
- met twelve times
- grown from nine to thirteen members comprising of sustainability leaders from various member organisations
- engaged six external guest speakers to educate council members on topics ranging from packaging reporting with APCO to KMPG delivering insights on the upcoming climate reporting requirements
- heard from drinks retailers, Coles Liquor and Endeavour Group on their Sustainability priorities and collaboration opportunities for the future
"Being involved with the Council this past year has been a really rewarding experience. Sustainability in drinks is a broad and complex area so having a variety of subject matter experts on the Council has ensured that there has always been someone with knowledge of a specific topic. This diversity of experience has been of great benefit to all Council members in helping each of us to build & improve capability within our own organisations." Paul Schnell, CCEP
The Council has been focussed on upskilling our Council members to take these learnings back to our organisations to help shape robust sustainability strategies. In this way, the Council has been filling a resource gap for the industry.
"Being a member of the Drinks Association Sustainability Council has been beneficial. It has provided me with a deeper understanding of the common challenges faced by our industry and highlighted how collaboration can lead to effective solutions for members. Through this council, I have been able to bring back to my organisation valuable insights on upcoming solutions, as well as customer and supplier perspectives." Joey Sergi, Sustainability Manager, Casella Family Brands
Sustainability is a long-term commitment that requires consistent action, thoughtful strategy, and measurable progress. We're focused on building tools that ensure organisations across the drinks industry are empowered with insights and tools to improve business processes and collaboration for a better tomorrow.
Want to learn more? Save the date for our upcoming webinar on "Putting the AI in SustAInability" on 4 June 2025.
Pictured: Sustainability Council members Penelope Goodsall (Head of ESG and Communications, Australian Vintage), Rebecca Loch (Sustainability Leader, Lion) and Nevil Shah (Sourcing, Sustainability, and Compliance Manager, ALM).