Tequila Neat, Hold the Waste: A Look at One Distiller’s Zero Waste Efforts
Mexico-based distiller Tequila Cazadores creates tequila using a seven-step sustainable and zero waste production process.
Originally published by Waste 360
By Cristina Commendatore
Tequila Cazadores was originally born in Los Altos de Jalisco, Mexico, in 1922, and the spirit was created by Don Jose Maria to share with friends and family. In 1973, Maria’s grandson, Don Felix, officially opened the first Cazadores distillery, where the tequila is created using a seven-step sustainable and zero waste production process, including double distillation, double fermentation and a careful maturation process.
Since its inception, Tequila Cazadores, which is known for using only blue agave, has always kept sustainability as a top priority. Today, the distillery houses a biomass boiler, making it 100 percent biomass fueled—60 percent of the biofuel is used to produce the tequila and comes from spent agave fibers, which equates to about 11,000 tons a year. The other 40 percent comprises roughly 8,000 tons of carbon-neutral, renewable fuel sources like clean waste wood, biomass briquettes, sawdust, coconut shells and tree cuttings.
