Absolut Vodka’s carbon reduction journey continues
Absolut Director of Operations Billy King oversees Absolut Vodka’s operations from its energy-efficient distillery through blending and bottling to warehouse and dispatch. He explains how the brand continues to focus on reducing its carbon footprint, with significant progress already made.
In late 2023, having worked in the spirits industry for more than 20 years (and The Absolut Group for more than half of them), Billy King ‘upped sticks’ from his Scotland home to Åhus, the small town in Southern Sweden where Absolut Vodka is produced. Now overseeing four sites and managing 350 employees, Billy has embraced a different, yet enjoyable, way of life.
“I enjoy living here but it is like living in two different towns. In the summer, it’s very busy, there are long queues for ice cream, pop-up restaurants and lots of summer events. But then comes the winter. It’s very quiet, there’s barely a soul on the streets and I struggle to find anywhere open to enjoy a quick drink!”
Billy has also noticed how protecting the environment is a way of life in Sweden. “In my experience, you sometimes have to convince people to want to consciously act in a way that protects the environment and conserves resources, perhaps, because often they don’t see the immediate benefits. But that doesn’t appear to be the case in Sweden. People here feel passionately about protecting the environment and they never seem satisfied that they are doing enough. They have this continuous improvement mindset that is part of the DNA here.”
Reducing its carbon footprint has long been an ambition at Absolut and it has made a great deal of progress over the past few years. For example, its distillery is now fossil-free, it is collaborating with Ardagh, its long-term glass bottle supplier, to move to a partly-hydrogen-fired glass furnace, and it has implemented initiatives at its warehouse to maximise container loads and optimise the distribution of Absolut Vodka.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of work done here over the years that has positioned Absolut strongly in reducing its carbon footprint,” adds Billy. “But our efforts haven’t stopped and we continue to implement initiatives that will make a positive environmental impact.”
We continue to implement initiatives that will make a positive environmental impact.
Billy King
In 2025, an initiative was launched to save more water from stillage, the main by-product of the vodka production process. Absolut produces enough stillage, which is rich in protein and highly valued by farmers, to feed around a quarter of a million pigs and cows in Southern Sweden every day the distillery is in operation. Until recently, the stillage was high in water content, or as Billy describes it, “it was quite runny”.
Following the project, a new process has been implemented to reduce the amount of water left in the stillage, while keeping all the nutrients the pigs and cows need. The removed water is then recycled back into the process to be used again. “The project is an example of how we are building on an already positive situation,” adds Billy.
There is a focus on capturing carbon from the production process as well. For example, during the wheat fermenting process, biogenic CO2 is released. Currently, around 30 per cent of the carbon released from its 10 fermentation tanks is captured, which is then purified and liquefied before being sold to other industries. Last year, initial discussions began with a third party that could capture the remaining CO2 emissions from Absolut’s distillery, liquefy it and store it permanently in the seabed of the North Sea. “This initiative is still in the early stages and it’s a complex project, but the potential is exciting,” says Billy.
Health and safety initiatives need a simple and direct message – Stop, Think, Act is a brilliant concept.
Billy King
A key part of Billy’s role is ensuring that health, safety and the well-being of his operations team are a priority – and he applauds Pernod Ricard’s group-wide Stop, Think, Act initiative. Around 40 per cent of the wider Pernod Ricard’s Lost Time Accidents (LTA) and High-Potential (HiPo) Near Misses have a common root cause linked to not enough time taken to assess risks before performing new or non-routine tasks.
Stop, Think, Act aims to shift its employees’ mindset and daily practices by cultivating a culture of proactive and safe decision-making at every level. Based on five ‘SAFER’ steps (Stop, Assess, Fix, Execute and Report), it is a straightforward yet effective initiative that doesn’t require workshops or presentations. “Health and safety initiatives need a simple and direct message. If everyone can take just five or ten extra seconds each time, we can avoid accidents and dangerous situations,” says Billy. “This brilliant concept from our colleagues at HQ achieves that. After all, regardless of what you’re doing, we always have time to stop, think and ensure it’s safe to act.”
New high-speed bottling line
Absolut Vodka is shipped to 140 markets around the world, producing more than 100 million bottles every year. In 2025, Absolut introduced a new high-speed bottling production line to its satellite facility, capable of speeds of up to 18,000 bottles per hour.
“The bottling of Absolut Vodka’s production is now much more balanced. It helps future-proof our capacity for potential growth, but it also acts as a contingency, should an issue arise at the main bottling plant,” says Billy. “The main bottling operation is in the middle of Åhus, so we can’t operate this factory 24/7 as it would be too disruptive for the locals. The satellite plant, however, is in an industrial part of town, so there are no restrictions there. If necessary, we could operate that factory 24 /7 and the satellite facility can cover around 90 per cent of our capacity if needed.”
