IN GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY
THE INDUSTRY LEADER
Environmentally Responsible
The Fonds Préville distillery is one of the most ecologically sustainable distilleries in the world. In the process of converting sugarcane into Rhum Agricole, the distillery produces waste products such as bagasse, or spent sugarcane, which is burned to create steam for the distillery, and the vinasse, or spent sugarcane wine post-distillation, which is mixed with bagasse to create compost for the fields.
The Reuse of Bagasse
Approximately 30% is used as fuel for the distillery. 20% is processed into compost and mulch to fertilize the banana and sugarcane fields. The remaining 50% is delivered at no cost to local biomass energy plants.
Company Involvement
Fonds Préville:
- Plastic cups have been replaced by cardboard cups.
- All waste is recycled: Cardboard cartons, plastic packaging, and glass bottles are collected separately by a recycling specialist.
- Old rum barrels are re-purposed when no longer suitable for aging.
- 100% electric vehicles for management and the sales teams.
- Installation of charging stations for electric cars in the parking lot for visitors and employees alike.
The Reuse of Vinasse
The Distillery Fonds Préville reconditions the vinasse making it safe to mix with bagasse and creating a nutrient-rich material to fertilize the plantation. Industrial effluents previously considered as waste will be transformed into two by-products:
Clear filtered water that will be used for agricultural irrigation, thus reducing the pressure on the water resource, preserving 3.5 mil gallons of water per year
Organic Sludge, which will be mineralized during this process and used for a second purpose, field fertilizers.
Exhaust Filtration
In 2016, Rhum J.M installed an emissions filter, similar to a massive catalytic converter to severely minimize potential pollution.
No smoke is emitted into the atmosphere and all the energy produced from the burning of the baggase is used to power the distillery.