British brewers go green

Tighe: BBPA report a world first

BBPA launches first sustainability report

The British Beer and Pub Association has published its first sustainability report. While short on environmental targets, it may well represent a global first among brewing industry trade associations.

Brewing green: Our commitment towards a sustainable future for Britain’s beer offers water and energy reduction commitments. Over the coming decade the BBPA expects its members to reduce water use by 11 per cent, reducing the input ratio to just less than four litres of water per litre of beer produced. (In 2009 the ratio was 4.5 litres of water for each litre of beer.)

BBPA members, who account for 96% of beer produced in the UK, have also pledged to cut overall CO2 emissions by 17.5% between now and 2020. In a sad commentary on the health of the UK’s brewing industry, some of this target is expected to be achieved from brewery closures. For example, Carlsberg’s brewery in Leeds is to close in the spring of 2011.

BBPA brewing director Andy Tighe acknowledges that the target will be met in part by capacity reductions. “CO2 emissions are [measured as] total CO2,” he said. “So we will take into account some but hopefully not too much fall in production.”

Tighe notes that the CO2 target is an aggressive one in the context of other UK manufacturing sectors, and more so when factoring in increased energy demands in a move away from draught beer to smallpack ales and lagers.

There are 10 environmental concerns in all where BBPA members have pledged to improve their performance. Beyond the targeted water and energy commitments brewers will improve raw material utilisation, increase renewable energy use, reduce packaging waste and reuse packaging where possible, and continue to lightweight containers.

There are also commitments to installing environmental management systems, ensuring sustainable production and to produce an annual report that will set out progress against agreed targets.

For now these commitments are lacking targets: the BBPA continues to gather data from its members on performance in these areas. Tighe acknowledges that the initial report is in some respects a statement of intent.

“With energy and water we are able to set qualitative targets,” he says. “But in other areas we need data sets. At the very least we should have a benchmark in next year’s report.”

While lacking in some respects, Brewing green is quite possibly ground-breaking as the first sustainability report issued by a brewing trade association anywhere in the world. Tighe says he’s not aware of any other brewing organisation that’s reporting on such a wide environmental basis.