NO WATERING DOWN OF A BETTER WORLD

By Carlos Brito Reprint | | Print |

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LEUVEN, Jun 14 2010 (IPS) - Companies are becoming more aware of challenges such as climate change, water scarcity and dependency on finite resources. There is no disputing that our natural resources must be used wisely, with an emphasis on lightening our impact on the planet.

Environmental responsibility is important for companies not only because it is the right way to operate but because it is a fundamental pillar of their long-term business strategy.

Ever more companies are responding to the challenge. Whether in farming, retail, manufacturing, energy, bottling or brewery, large and small industries around the world are doing their part to conserve, recognising that everyone can make a difference.

At Anheuser-Busch InBev, we track our environmental impacts as closely as we measure our financial performance data. And as the worldÂ’s biggest brewer we are acutely aware of natural resource needs across our supply chain, in particular the principal ingredient in our products: water.

Efficient water use is essential to the continued, sustainable growth of our business around the world, which is why we have set an ambitious goal to bring our water use down to 3.5 hectolitres of water for each hectolitre of production by the end of 2012 – a 30 percent reduction per unit of production from 2007, which will save enough water to fill 25,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

We are confident we can reach this goal because of the tremendous strides we have already made in some breweries around the world. In the United States, our Cartersville, Georgia, brewery is already ahead of the 3.5 goal. Our Wernigerode brewery in Germany set the bar last year, achieving an annual water use ratio of 3.09. And the Jaguariuna brewery in Brazil has driven water use down by nine percent from 2007 to 2009, saving more than 1.7 million hectolitres of water.

For Anheuser-Busch InBev, our new water goal is just one of the aggressive global environmental goals we announced in March as part of our vision to be the ‘Best Beer Company in a Better WorldÂ’ – our commitment to encourage responsible drinking, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. In addition to the water reduction goal, we have set a goal of achieving a 99 percent recycling and reuse rate and a 10 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and energy use per hectolitre of production by the end of 2012.

In addition, we also work on environmental issues outside our brewery walls with our suppliers and community partners. Every year on World Environment Day, an initiative of the United Nations, our breweries and facilities carry out hundreds of separate activities across many countries, from river clean-ups to bike-to-work days and recycling drives.

While there may not be an agreement on every environmental issue, we must all do our part to contribute to positive progress in helping preserve and protect the world around us. Let us take the opportunity to help make the dream of a ‘Better World’ a reality for our generation…and generations to come. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

(*) Carlos Brito, CEO Anheuser-Busch InBev. This column is part of a series of opinion articles and interviews about corporate social and environmental responsibility, supported by Anheuser-Busch InBev.