Heineken Ireland - "Brewing a Better World"

Background
HEINEKEN Ireland have a global programme called ‘Brewing a Better World’ across its entire value chain from barley to bar and have been publicly reporting on its sustainability activities results since 2010. Guided by this strategy they are now defining its 2030 global commitments in alignment with the COP21 Paris Agreement on climate change, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) and the expectations of its stakeholders.

The company’s sustainability commitments are supported by a holistic approach with all its stakeholders including employees, suppliers, farmers, and customers. Every year the company publishes a sustainability report which details the progress of its sustainability commitments in the Irish market.

In addition to its activity to reduce emissions and landfill waste, the company has developed a local sourcing programme with a ‘local first approach’, with its 304 Irish suppliers. The company developed a Supplier Code where 100% of its suppliers have signed and were compliant with the principles expressed in the code.

Covid-19 Activity
During the COVID 19 crisis, HEINEKEN Ireland announced it was sustainably repurposing beer that was returned from the cellars of shuttered pubs following the sudden closure of the sector. They worked across a range of partners to convert the returned product into green electricity and agricultural fertiliser, as part of the company’s principles of a circular economy.

Results
The implementation of its ‘Brewing a Better World’ initiative has resulted in its brewing operations in Cork cutting its carbon emissions by more than half (55%) and achieving zero waste to landfill status.

The company has also started a process to remove all plastic shrink and can connectors from HEINEKEN Ireland products in 2021. In all, as part of this work, HEINEKEN Ireland will remove almost 4 million pieces of consumer-facing plastic from across its brand portfolio.

Recognition
HEINEKEN Ireland’s sustainability achievements were recognised in 2019 when the Company was awarded Bord Bia’s prestigious Sustainability Project Impact Award for excellence in corporate and public sustainability. This win came a year after HEINEKEN Ireland became the first drinks company to receive Business in the Community Ireland’s Business Working Responsibly Mark.