From Singapore Slings to Vegas pours: ecoSpirits tackles spirits’ packaging waste, now eyes other sectors

[SINGAPORE] Walk into Raffles Hotel and order a Singapore Sling. The cocktail’s gin, cherry and orange liqueurs all come from ecoSpirits’ reusable containers – a system that replaces six single-use bottles with one large refillable container.

Paul Gabie came up with the idea for the green packaging startup in late 2017, when he questioned why spirits could not come in reusable containers. It began operating the following year.

Gabie arrived in Singapore 16 years ago from New York to work in finance. He opened 28 HongKong Street in 2011, a Chinatown bar that still operates today, before moving into spirits distribution. He spent nearly a decade building Proof & Company, a spirits distributor which closed in July this year.