Beyond the Buzzword: Embedding Sustainability Into Operational Strategy
8/20/2025 Matthew Tilley
Sustainability isn’t a checkbox, nor is it just a quarterly initiative or a line in your annual report. For today’s most forward-thinking brands, it should be a core strategy — shaping product design, material sourcing, and supply chain decision-making.
In this episode of RRD’s Produced + Delivered podcast, I sat down with Drake's Brewing Company to learn how they’re embedding sustainability from the inside out.
Why shallow sustainability doesn’t last
For Drake’s Brewing Company, sustainability isn’t just a marketing tactic — it’s a guiding principle.
As Hal McConnellogue, Sustainability Manager at Drake’s, explains, “Sustainability is a full-time job.” It’s not something a team member can manage in their free time. Making a real impact requires dedicated roles, intentional decision-making, and a readiness to face tough trade-offs.
Take Drake’s Juicy Hoot IPA launch, for example. The goal wasn’t to create the most sustainable beer ever. It was to bring a quality product to market while staying true to the brewery’s mission to reduce waste, improve recyclability, and collaborate with like-minded vendors. That called for thoughtful planning at every stage, from packaging and labeling to supplier choices and educating consumers.
3 ways to operationalize sustainability
Turning sustainability from an aspiration into action takes deliberate effort. Here are three ways Drake’s Brewing has made it part of their day-to-day operations:
1. Integrate sustainability across operations
Sustainability influences everyday choices, like selecting aluminum instead of glass, replacing plastic toppers with paperboard, or printing directly on cans rather than using unrecyclable labels.
As Anthony Raggio, Director of Packaging and Logistics, explained, “Every solution creates a new problem. So we’re constantly asking, how can we bring products to market within the sustainability parameters we’ve set and keep improving from there?”
For Juicy Hoot, that meant switching from plastic-wrapped 16-ounce cans to printed 12-ounce cans, packaged in fully recyclable, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paperboard.
2. Dedicate leadership and resources
Sustainability initiatives can’t succeed without ownership. That’s why Drake's Brewing employs a full-time sustainability lead, McConnellogue, to drive eco-conscious initiatives. It’s also why they urge everyone in packaging and production to prioritize sustainability in their daily work.
"It’s not just my job,” McConnellogue notes. “It’s everyone’s job. And if you don’t have a full-time sustainability team, the next best thing is to empower the people making those decisions daily."
3. Measure progress and adapt
Sustainability isn’t a one-and-done project; it’s an ongoing process. Drake’s Brewing tracks everything from packaging materials to emissions trade-offs and recycling contamination risks. They’ve also started educating customers through packaging and social media, informing them when a can isn’t recyclable because of plastic labels.
“There’s a surprising lack of awareness,” Raggio shared. “Most people don’t know that a labeled 16-ounce can can’t be recycled. That insight helped us evolve how we communicate and package moving forward.”
4 lessons from the brewery floor
From packaging issues to vendor partnerships, here are four takeaways to help your team factor sustainability more effectively into daily decisions:
- Choose recyclable can options. When switching from bottles to cans, select pre-printed cans or paper labels instead of plastic shrink sleeves or biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) labels that hinder recyclability.
- Upgrade plastic toppers to paperboard. Switch to recyclable paperboard toppers that support sustainability goals and create space for custom branding.
- Align suppliers with your mission. Be transparent about your sustainability goals and work with partners who offer proactive solutions, not just transactions.
- Don’t wait to get started. Take the first step, even if it’s small. Set a focus, establish a goal, and start making progress today.
Sustainability as a strategy
When you integrate sustainability into your operations instead of treating it as an afterthought, it becomes more than just a value. It becomes a competitive advantage. It reduces waste, improves efficiency, and attracts customers who care. It also gives your brand a stronger story to share and supports smarter business decisions.
As McConnellogue noted, “Being wasteful costs a lot of money. So if you can’t always pitch sustainability as the environmentally right thing, you might pitch it as a cost-saving strategy. Either way, it gets you moving in the right direction.”
Don’t miss the full conversation. Listen to this episode of the Produced + Delivered Podcast by RRD here.
Matthew Tilley is the Host of the Produced + Delivered podcast and is RRD’s Vice President of Growth Marketing.