BIER Issues Results of 2012 Water Use Benchmarking Study
Identifies an Overall Improvement in Beverage Industry Water Use
St. Paul, Minn., January 23, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Since 2007, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) has conducted an annual quantitative benchmark to examine water use in the beverage sector. 2012 marks the completion of its sixth annual water use benchmarking study that evaluates the performance of more than 1,600 beverage manufacturing facilities distributed across 6 continents and representing 17 different beverage companies. The study seeks to more clearly understand water use drivers and impacts and to demonstrate improvement as an industry in water stewardship efforts.
To establish the data set, BIER member companies provided three years (2009, 2010, 2011) of facility-specific metrics including total water usage, total beverage production, beverage product mix, facility type and facility location. The basis for analysis is the water use ratio, which describes how efficiently a facility uses water for beverage production. Results are categorized by four distinct facility types: bottling, brewery, distillery and winery. The 2012 study identified an overall improvement in industry-wide water use ratio, with approximately 73% of facilities realizing improved water use ratios from 2009 to 2011. Additionally, BIER member companies demonstrated significant water use improvements in water scarce operations and areas that are forecasted to be more water-stressed in the near future.
This is the third year that BIER membership has elected to share select results of this study with external stakeholders in support of transparency and open communication around environmental sustainability performance. BIER plans to begin its seventh annual benchmarking study in June 2013 with a focus on building more context-based metrics into the study to further evaluate process drivers for water use trends.
The complete benchmarking results report is available for download at www.bieroundtable.com
About BIER
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) is a technical coalition of leading global beverage companies working together to advance environmental sustainability within the beverage sector. By accelerating the process of analysis to sustainable solutions, BIER aims to affect sector change through work focused on water stewardship, energy efficiency and climate change. BIER members include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bacardi, Beam, Brown-Forman, Carlsberg, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone Waters, Diageo, Diversey, Ecolab, Heineken, MillerCoors, MolsonCoors, Nestle Waters North America, New Belgium Brewing Company, Ocean Spray Cranberries, PepsiCo, Pernod Ricard, SABMiller, and Sun Orchard. For more information, visit www.bieroundtable.com.
About Global Corporate Consultancy
The GCC is a management consulting firm that specializes in sustainability, delivering results from strategy through implementation. Believing the best programs integrate sustainability into core business practices, GCC experts partner with clients to identify and act on business-relevant social and environmental opportunities. Through fit-for-purpose and uniquely innovative solutions, clients benefit from reduced business risk, new opportunities and long-term competitive advantage. The GCC has managed the annual BIER water benchmarking study, including data collection, analysis, verification and reporting, since its inception in 2007. For more information, visit www.anteagroup.com/gcc.
