Anheuser-Busch’s 130 beer and soft drink breweries around the world worked toward achieving three-year goals set to reduce the energy, water and fuel usage and to increase recycling; the brewery in Williamsburg surpassed the goals set and did it one year ahead of schedule.
“We enjoy being here and we’re giving back to our community and we’re protecting the environment and just working toward being a better corporate citizen even though we were never bad, we’re just working to be better” said General Manager Rick Shippey of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery of Williamsburg.
Using 2009 as the baseline, the company set global goals to use 3.5 hectoliters of water per hectoliter of production, to decrease energy per hectoliter by 10 percent, to reduce carbon emissions by 10 percent and to reach a 99 percent recycling rate. A hectoliter is the equivalent to 100 liters or, in more common U.S. calculations, 26.4 gallons.
“We just announced as a company that we met [our goals] and I fully expect that will set us new goals to achieve in the next few years,” Shippey said.
At the Williamsburg brewery, water usage has been reduced by 53 percent since 2005 and was reduced 11 percent in 2012 alone; energy usage was reduced by 34 percent since 2005 and 9 percent in 2012; and fuel usage was reduced 48 percent since 2005 and 11 percent in 2012. Shippey said the brewery recycles 99.71 percent of its materials.
Shippey said the Williamsburg brewery’s goal is to be 100 percent neutral to the environment by recycling 100 percent of its materials; the brewery is working toward achieving the other 0.29 percent to meet that goal. Reducing fuel, energy and water usage and increasing recycling does change costs for the brewery but that’s not the driving force behind the effort, he explained.
Williamsburg is the number three brewery worldwide for water usage; its water usage is at a rate of 2.82 hectoliters per hectoliter of production.
“[There are] hundreds of different initiatives that got us to these goals. In broad strokes, it comes down to ownership,” Shippey said.
The employees at the Williamsburg brewery worked to achieve the company-wide goals in two years through suggestions, company spirit and the drive to be the win.
“From a company perspective, our dream is to be the best beer company in a better world,” said Shippey.
The Williamsburg brewery is in some stage of brewing process 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The brewing process may slow down in the winter, to the effect of cutting one or two shifts off the work schedule, Shippey said.
