Beer to spearhead innovative product environmental footprint initiative

The Brewers of Europe is delighted that Beer has been selected as a pilot for the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) project. The initiative, aimed at analysing the opportunity for the development of a systematic methodology for calculating the environmental footprint of food products, will help brewers to continue their pioneering work in the field of product sustainability.

 

“Having been chosen as the privileged partner of the Commission for a beer pilot, The Brewers of Europe wishes to participate in exploring a new, robust methodology to measure environmental impact,” said Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, Secretary-General of The Brewers of Europe. “The brewing sector is consistently looking for novel and innovative ways to reduce its environmental footprint and we greatly look forward to helping Europe achieve its core objectives in the field of product sustainability.”

The Food and Drink PEF initiative provides a landmark opportunity to explore and enhance the efficiency and accuracy of measuring environmental impact. A comprehensive life-cycle approach should allow for greater resource efficiency gains and synergies throughout the whole value chain, to the benefit of consumers and the planet alike.

Brewers already work together with other drinks producers, through the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), to advance environmental sustainability in the beverage sector. Our leading role in the  PEF project is a useful opportunity to continue promoting sustainable production and consumption of beer, whilst also providing key learnings for other beverages too,” continued Mr Bergeron. “Our participation in the scheme is aligned with our wider efforts to increase the sustainability of beer in Europe and should enable us to play a central role in exploring a robust framework for reducing the sector’s environmental impact throughout the whole value chain.”

It should also allow our sector to advance the environmental savings we have already achieved, as evidenced in The Brewers of Europe Environmental Report, our online sustainable water management library and the Worldwide Energy and Water Efficiency Benchmark”.  Already following a period of intense reductions, in the 2 years up to 2010, an average 4.5% less water was used, and 3.8% less energy and 7.1% less CO2 emissions generated, for the production of each litre of beer. Brewers’ grains, a secondary product produced during the brewing process, are also used in bread, yeast extract, paper, bricks and animal feed, with enough grains produced annually to feed up to 2.4 million cattle.

The Brewers look forward to cooperating with the Commission, including through other PEF pilots in related fields such as agriculture and packaging in the quest for a more sustainable and efficient Europe.

 

Contact details

Simon Spillane, Communications Senior Advisor, The Brewers of Europe
+32 (0)2 551 1810; sws@brewersofeurope.org

About The Brewers of Europe

Founded in 1958 and based in Brussels, The Brewers of Europe unites the national brewers’ associations from 29 European countries

About the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) project

News on the selection of proposals for the 2nd wave of Environmental Footprint pilots

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