Sustainability

Pouched, not bottled โ€” for your day out and the planet

Sustainability

Less packaging.
More planet.

Every MXTOLOGY cocktail is pouched, not bottled โ€” a lightweight, flat-shipping pouch instead of a heavy glass bottle or aluminium can. It's the single biggest thing we do for the planet. Here's the honest, sourced story behind it.

~80% lower GHG vs glass* Glass-free Ships flat & light Made in Australia
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MXTOLOGY Aussie Berry Bliss cocktail pouch on a clean, glass-free Australian beach at sunset Leave nothing behind
The short answer

Are cocktail pouches better for the environment than bottles? For carbon, the life-cycle evidence says yes. Flexible pouches are far lighter, ship flat, and don't need a 1,500ยฐC furnace or energy-hungry smelter to make. Independent and industry life-cycle assessments put a pouch's greenhouse-gas footprint dramatically below glass and aluminium โ€” an ifeu (2021) study found a flexible pouch had 63% lower climate impact than a glass jar and 69% lower than a steel can.* The honest trade-off is end-of-life: soft-plastic recycling in Australia is limited right now โ€” which is exactly the problem our next-generation pouch is being designed to solve.

Why we pouched it

Glass and aluminium carry a heavy footprint

Before a drop is even poured, the container has already done most of the environmental damage. Here's how the three formats stack up.

๐Ÿพ
Heaviest footprint

Glass

  • Melted in furnaces hotter than 1,500ยฐC โ€” among the most energy-intensive steps in packaging.*
  • A single empty wine bottle weighs roughly 350โ€“600g, before it's even filled.*
  • In a bottle of wine, the glass alone can be the single biggest contributor to its carbon footprint (~29%+).*
  • Breaks โ€” which is why most beaches and festivals ban it.
๐Ÿฅซ
Energy-hungry

Aluminium

  • Primary aluminium averages ~14.8 t COโ‚‚e per tonne of metal produced.*
  • Smelting draws roughly 14 kWh of electricity per kg.*
  • Recycling saves ~95% of that energy โ€” but only if the can actually gets recycled.*
๐Ÿ’ง
Lightest footprint

The pouch

  • In beverage life-cycle studies, the flexible pouch had the lowest greenhouse-gas footprint of every format tested.*
  • Almost all of its weight is drink, not packaging โ€” roughly 97% product, 3% packaging.*
  • Ships flat and light, so far more cocktails fit in every truck โ€” fewer trips, less fuel.*
  • No glass to break, so it's welcome where bottles aren't.
~80%
Lower GHG vs glass & aluminium in beverage LCA*
63%
Lower climate impact than a glass jar (ifeu 2021)*
1,500ยฐC+
Furnace heat needed to make glass*
97%
Of a pouch's weight is drink, not packaging*
A slim, lightweight MXTOLOGY cocktail pouch beside a heavy glass bottle and aluminium can, showing how much less packaging a pouch uses
Same serve, a fraction of the packaging: the flat pouch versus the glass and metal it replaces.

Where we won't greenwash

The honest bit: end-of-life

We could slap a green leaf and a "recyclable" badge on every pouch. We won't โ€” because in Australia right now, that wouldn't be the full truth. Soft-plastic recycling took a major hit when the REDcycle programme paused in 2022, and today the majority of soft plastics still end up in landfill. Kerbside soft-plastic collection isn't yet available to most households.

So instead of overclaiming, we're being straight with you: a MXTOLOGY pouch already wins big on the carbon and transport side of the ledger โ€” and we're putting our energy into solving the end-of-life side properly, rather than printing a symbol that most Australians can't act on.

What we're working toward

The next pouch

01

A better material

We're working toward a next-generation pouch designed for genuine recyclability and lower impact โ€” so the end-of-life story matches the carbon story.

02

Plantable, one day

Our long-term vision: a fully biodegradable pouch with seeds embedded in it, so what's left can be planted and grow a tree. Ambitious โ€” and the goal we're chasing.

03

Lighter every trip

We keep packaging weight and shipping emissions as low as we can, because the lightest, flattest pack is also the lowest-carbon one to move.

Sustainability FAQ

Your questions

Are cocktail pouches better for the environment than glass bottles?
On carbon, yes. Flexible pouches are far lighter and ship flat, and they avoid the 1,500ยฐC+ glass furnace and energy-intensive aluminium smelting. Life-cycle assessments consistently rank the pouch lowest for greenhouse-gas emissions โ€” an ifeu (2021) study found a flexible pouch had 63% lower climate impact than a glass jar and 69% lower than a steel can. The catch is recycling: soft plastics are harder to recycle in Australia today, so the fairest summary is "much lower carbon, with end-of-life still to solve."
Why does MXTOLOGY use pouches instead of bottles or cans?
Three reasons: a dramatically lower carbon and transport footprint, no glass to break (so our cocktails are welcome at beaches, pools, festivals and race days where bottles are banned), and a chillable, lightweight, packable format that's simply better for a day out. We're pouched, not bottled โ€” by design.
Are MXTOLOGY pouches recyclable?
We're deliberately not making a blanket "recyclable" claim, because in most of Australia there isn't yet an easy, reliable way for households to recycle soft plastics (the REDcycle programme paused in 2022 and kerbside collection isn't widespread). We'd rather be honest about that than greenwash. Our focus is on developing a next-generation pouch that genuinely solves end-of-life โ€” see what we're working toward above.
How much lower is a pouch's carbon footprint?
It depends on the study and the product, but the direction is consistent. An ifeu (2021) life-cycle assessment found a flexible pouch had 63% lower climate-change impact than a glass jar and 69% lower than a steel can. A Flexible Packaging Association beverage life-cycle study put single-serve pouches roughly 80% below glass and aluminium for greenhouse-gas emissions. These are specific-product LCAs (several industry-commissioned), so we cite them as strong indicators rather than a single universal number.
Can I take pouched cocktails where glass is banned?
That's one of the best parts. Most Australian beaches, pools, festivals and major events ban glass for safety. Because MXTOLOGY is pouched, there's nothing to shatter โ€” so you can enjoy a proper cocktail in places a bottle could never go, and there's no broken glass left behind.

Sources & references

Where our numbers come from

  • ifeu (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Heidelberg), life-cycle assessment of flexible vs rigid packaging, 2021 โ€” flexible pouch ~63% lower climate impact than a glass jar, ~69% lower than a steel can (commissioned by Flexible Plastics Europe).
  • Flexible Packaging Association, A Holistic View of the Role of Flexible Packaging in a Sustainable World (2018) โ€” single-serve beverage life-cycle comparison (pouch vs glass, aluminium, PET); product-to-package ratio and GHG findings. Industry-commissioned LCA.
  • International Aluminium Institute โ€” primary aluminium ~14.8 t COโ‚‚e/tonne (2023); smelting energy; recycling saves ~95% of primary energy. international-aluminium.org
  • Glass melting temperatures (1,500ยฐC+) โ€” International Journal of Applied Glass Science, 2024; glass melting is the most energy-intensive stage of production.
  • Glass share of a wine's carbon footprint (~29%+) โ€” California Wine Institute; supported by peer-reviewed wine LCA (Cleary et al., Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 2023).
  • Transport & flat-shipping efficiency of empty flexible packaging โ€” Flexible Packaging Association.
  • Australian soft-plastic recycling status (REDcycle paused 2022; majority of soft plastics to landfill; Soft Plastics Taskforce in-store pilot) โ€” Clean Up Australia; ACCC.
  • Environmental marketing claims framed per the ACCC's Making environmental claims guidance (2023).

*Figures are drawn from the specific life-cycle assessments and sources listed above. Several are industry-commissioned, single-product LCAs; we present them as strong, directional evidence rather than a single universal figure, and we update this page as better data emerges.

A better cocktail. A lighter footprint.

Real cocktails, made fresh in Australia, in a pouch that's kinder to carry โ€” and to the planet.

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18+ only. Drink responsibly. Each pouch's exact ABV and standard drinks appear on its product page.