Global brewing company SABMiller is cutting the amount of water used to make beer. So far, it’s managed to cut it by only 8%, but they say that’s a lot for a water intensive industry in their corporate sustainability report.
SABMiller owns more than 200 brands of beer, including Miller Genuine Draft, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni and Grolsch. The company is also one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in the world and has more than 70,000 employees spread across 75 countries.
SABMiller states, "The scarcity and availability of water represent a potentially significant risk to parts of our business, as well as to some of the communities in which we operate."
The company’s goal is to reduce water consumption 25% below 2008 levels by 2015. So far, the company has cut 8%, even as its total water consumption increased with higher production levels. Over the last year, it cut it by 3%.
In 2010, they published detailed water footprints of its operations in Peru, Ukraine, Tanzania and South Africa – all countries at risk of significant water stress. A water footprint shows how much water is consumed to produce beer throughout the value chain, from crop cultivation to waste disposal.
The results showed considerable variation – ranging from 61 liters of water per liter of beer produced in Peru to 180 liters per liter in Tanzania – illustrating the impact of local factors on water consumption.
Crop cultivation accounted for over 90% of water consumed in the four countries analyzed. Using this quantitative approach, SABMiller says it is engaging with local stakeholders in each country to develop watershed protection programs and to spread best practices.
SABMiller also is a founding signatory of the UN CEO Water Mandate, an initiative that helps companies to develop, implement and disclose water sustainability policies and practices. And in 2010 the company participated in the inaugural CDP Water Disclosure project, which aims to inform the global marketplace on investment risk and commercial opportunity relating to water risk.
Water risk is one of 10 sustainability priorities established by SABMiller. This year the company launched a new reporting tool that enables users to explore detailed sustainable development data, by country and priority, and learn more about the performance of its local businesses.
Other highlights from the 2011 report include a 3% reduction in fossil fuel emissions en route to a 50% reduction goal by 2020; a 96% recycling rate for production waste; and the introduction of a new environmental impact assessment tool that measures impact from raw material use to final disposal.
The company states that its 10 priorities for sustainable development are:
- Discouraging irresponsible drinking
- Making more beer using less water
- Reducing energy and carbon footprint
- Packaging, reuse and recycling
- Working towards zero waste operations
- Encouraging enterprise development in value chains
- Benefiting communities
- Contributing to the reduction of HIV/Aids
- Respecting human rights
- Transparency and ethics
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