Four Pillars becomes first carbon neutral gin distillery in Australia
Four Pillars Gin has announced it is the first carbon neutral gin distillery in Australia, as it unveils a AUD$7 million dollar upgrade to its Healesville headquarters in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. The expanded distillery door is set to open to the public by the end of April.
The craft distillery was established in 2013 and has since become Australia’s number one craft spirit. Four Pillars was awarded International Gin Producer of the Year in 2019 and 2020 by the IWSC, and the World Gin Awards 2022 Icons of Gin Distiller of the Year and Brand Innovator of the Year. Four Pillars is distributed in New Zealand by Tickety-Boo.
Its new carbon neutral certification has been made by Climate Active – an Australian government initiative regarded as one of the most strident carbon neutral programs worldwide. It is only awarded to businesses that have reached a state of achieving zero net emissions.
Copper pipes carry the gin from the production facility to taps at the bar to reduce glass use at Four Pillars’ new distillery - photo by Anson Smart
Four Pillars says it has been working with Climate Active and consultants Ndver Environmental for more than a year to achieve the accreditation, which takes into account all elements of the gin’s journey beyond the distillery door.
Four Pillars says that all its gins bottled onsite will be certified carbon neutral, and its business operations have also achieved carbon neutral status by being included in the boundary of the Lion Australia’s organisation certification last year (Lion is a partner of Four Pillars).
The soon-to-launch Four Pillars distillery, named Healesville 2.0, has seen more than a 1000sqm expansion of the original site. The new site is directly adjacent, and wholly connected, to the original Four Pillars home on Lilydale Road, Healesville.
The whole site, incorporating the old and new buildings, will be enclosed by a copper ‘veil’ made from 1650m of raw copper tubing, working as a natural heat exchange to reduce energy consumption.
Gin will be ‘piped’ directly into the main bar through featured copper pipes to reduce glass waste, while bottled tonic will be replaced in the most part by tonic in kegs. Four Pillars says that these two initiatives alone will save 29 tonnes of glass per year at the site.
Render of Four Pillars exterior showing copper ‘veil’ - Breathe Architecture
The construction has used materials including recycled and upcycled concrete and bricks, pineapple ‘leather’ upholstery and even building ‘waste’ has been carefully used and given a second life. Furniture is all locally sourced, solar power panels clad the roof, and internal and external landscaping includes plantings of local natives and botanicals, many of which will be used in future gin distillations.
“This is a landmark day for Four Pillars and our commitment to sustainability,” said Four Pillars co-founder and distiller Cameron Mackenzie. “From the very first day we distilled gin we have tried to recycle, re-use and replenish our environment and give back to the community. We cannot give more to the community than assure it that our gins tread carefully on our planet especially in this time of climate crisis.”
