Heineken Hungary: Beer brewing in a greener way

The brewery says 98% of its produced waste is now recycled, 22% of its energy consumption is from renewable energy sources and water use has been reduced by 13.8%.

These are just few of the achievements of the sustainability program the company launched in 2010, with the title “Let’s draught a better world” (“Csapoljunk jobb világot”). Its main goals are to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, to protect water resources, to maintain health and safety at the workplace, to draw attention to responsible alcohol consumption, to support local communities and to sustain procurement.

“There is a critical need to keep our planet for future generations, therefore we must work together and live in a sustainable way both as individuals, societies and companies,” said José Matthijsse, the CEO of Heineken Hungary.

This project resulted in CO2 emissions that are 9.6% lower. The company is now the sixth best in the world in terms of its hectoliter to CO2 emission ratio, he reported.

Heineken employs 500 people, and has had no accidents reported for one year in either of its two factories or in its warehouse in Budapest. Matthijsse said this is an acknowledgment of the 350 hours per year safety training organized by the company.

Several other environmentally friendly measures were taken, illustrated by the fact that only “green” refrigerators have been bought, which consume 45% less energy. The support of the local communities and the protection of water resources are further examples of the philanthropy of the company, the CEO said.

The results of this year’s sustainability report have been disclosed by Heineken in an unusual manner: in a bottle. The message in a bottle represents hope, empathy and is a symbol of humanity, Matthijsse said.