Edinburgh’s North British Distillery working on project to turn whisky distilling green

Edinburgh’s historic North British Distillery is working on a multi-million-pound project to make whisky distilling more sustainable.

The North British Distillery Company is one of Scotland’s largest Scotch grain whisky producers and is situated in the west of Edinburgh. Picture: Paul Chappells

The grain whisky producer has been making whisky for 134 years using a traditional process that has changed little over time. Following support from Scottish Enterprise it plans to design, develop and commercialise a modernised distilling process.

The project is part of wider sustainability plans aimed at significantly reducing the facility’s carbon footprint.

North British Distillery is now owned as a joint venture between Diageo and Edrington and employs more than 200 people at the distillery and main warehousing complex.

Managing director Alan Kilpatrick said: “Protecting the natural environment is of the utmost importance to all of us at the North British Distillery.

“We are pleased to be on a journey to reduce our carbon emissions, with support from Scottish Enterprise. This funding will enable us to develop our green credentials, while supporting jobs and building on the skills of our workforce.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions