World’s largest beer brewer commits to slashing water usage

The brewer has set a number of goals aimed at building on its three-year global environmental achievements reached at the end of 2012.

These include reducing water risks and improving water management in 100% of the company’s key barley growing regions as well as engaging in watershed protection measures at its facilities located in areas such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and China.

The Belgium-Brazilin company also aims to reduce its global water usage to 3.2 hectoliters of water per hectoliter of production, having last year achieved a reduction of 18.6% since 2009 to 3.5 hectoliters.

As well as focusing on water management, Anheuser-Busch InBev is aiming to reduce its global greenhouse gas emissions per hectoliter of production by 10% and reduce its global energy usage per hectoliter of production by the same amount.

In addition, the brewer wants to reduce its packaging materials by 100,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to the weight of about a quarter of a billion full cans of beer.

AB InBev’s UK and Ireland president Inge Plochaet said: “Our new environmental goals focus on where it matters most – striving to conserve and protect our natural resources, and continuing to reduce packaging by using fewer, lighter-weight, and recycled materials.

“Our approach recognizes that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to improve sustainability. The key will be to leverage the experience and expertise of our colleagues in our three UK brewery sites.”

Conor McGlone