The challenge of reducing the carbon footprint of brewing is a big one. Brewing is an intensive process, requiring large amounts of agricultural inputs, energy and transportation and distribution.
Here are some of the main issues and what can be done to tackle them:
Start by measuring your carbon footprint
A ballpark figure for the carbon footprint of a pint of beer puts it between 300g CO2e for a point of locally brewed cask ale at the pub to 900g CO2e for a bottled beer from the shop that has been extensively transported.
Where does your brewery or business sit on this scale? Some breweries have started to measure their activities to calculate a carbon footprint, but a lot more data is needed. A 2021 survey of more than 1,000 UK businesses found that only one in ten (11%) are measuring their carbon footprint.
That doesn’t mean to say businesses aren’t taking action on environmental challenges, for example by reducing packaging and switching to green energy providers, but in the wake of a raft of greenwashing claims, it can be hard to strike the right message that communicates what a business is doing without making false claims about progress.
Carbon Literacy training helps learners to understand the risks of unmanaged carbon emissions, and develops communication methods for talking about carbon footprints, offsetting and other action. It can be a great way to start conversations and engage staff to start thinking about what steps they might take in their personal lives as well as helping to improve the business.
Reducing food miles
Transport and distribution makes up a significant propotion of emissions from the brewing process. Whether that be the import and delivery of supplies and ingredients, or the downstream distribution of beer either direct to customers or through wholesale supply chains. A 2021 assesment of Welsh craft microbreweries found downstream distribution to be the ‘unexpected hotspot’ of carbon emissions ‘due to inefficient use of light commercial vehicles for regional distribution of beers.’
According to the Zero Carbon Forum roadmap, fleet decarbonisation provides a 10% reduction in emissions and focussing on local and sustainble sourcing can reduce emissions by a further 4.3%
In order to improve the environmental outcomes of sourcing ingredients, Adnams has always supported local growers when sourcing ingredients for its range of beers and spirits, the majority of the barley used is grown by the Holkham Estate in North Norfolk. Shipping hops halfway across the world adds significant transport emissions to a regional brewer like Adnams, and so the brewer has made a pledge that every beer it produces uses at least some English hops (source)
Freshwater
A pint of beer is 95% water, but the University of Vermont found it takes 3-7 barrels of water to create one barrel of beer, and this ratio can rise as high as 10:1. at present, breweries are using water for cleaning, cooling and packaging so steps should be taken to reduce the intensity of requirement. The need to act is real, the UN has projected that global demand for fresh water will exceed supply by 40% by 2030 (source)
The Village Brewery in Calgary, Canada brews with municipal wastewater that has been run through an advanced purification system, reducing the dependence on freshwater supply. Water is regularly checked to ensure it meets health and safety standards for consumption.
Small Beer in London uses a dry floor policy that minimises spillage and therefore water needed to clean down floors. A pint of Small Beer uses only 1.5 pints of water to brew.
Freedom Brewery (above) get all their water from a spring beneath the brewery and have installed a reed bed so water is naturally filtered and recycled before being returned to the environment.
Reduce waste
Biffa research found that only 40% of small and medium sized hospitality businesses recycle.
A good start in reducing waste is to decrease what you buy, and when making purchases, look to the second hand market. Platforms such as Warp-it finds new homes for surplus resources such as furniture and equipment.
Work with suppliers to identify where you might be able to reduce upstream packaging. Can ingredients be delivered in bulk rather than multiple small packs? Could cleaning chemicals be delivered in bulk to refill containers rather than endless single use bottles? Could deliveries be consolidated to once a week in order to reduce transport emissions?
Finally, get up to speed on what you can and can’t recycle – speak to your waste service provider to understand if there is more that can be recycled or reused rather than sent to landfill or incineration. Some packaging is made from plants using renewable materials, but has to be composted in a certain way. If waste is mixed with the wrong bin, it can contaminate waste streams and a well intentioned action of hoping packaging can be recycled means other items that can be recycled have to be rejected further down the line.
These are just a couple of ideas to get you started, but there are plenty more great ways to take action. Think we’ve missed something? Get in touch
More resources
Green Business Bureau – Brewery Sustainability: Getting Started Guide