Brewer floats new ideas for water stewardship

The international brewing company SABMiller recently joined forces with campaigning group WWF and Germany’s federal sustainable development enterprise (GTZ) to create the Water Futures Partnership. The partnership’s aim is to facilitate local action and prove the business case for private sector engagement in promoting sustainable water resource management.

Over the past year, the three partners have worked together in Peru, Tanzania, Ukraine and South Africa. In each country, detailed water footprint measurements were taken to get a better understanding of the risks faced. The findings of the footprints, including a quantification of the water used throughout SABMiller’s value chain from crop production to products distribution, are presented in a report, along with a summary of the key risks identified in each country.

The results showed considerable variation between the footprints – ranging from 61 litres of water per litre of beer produced in Peru to 180 litres per litre in Tanzania. In all cases the majority of the water used relates to crop cultivation, an element of the water footprint not directly under the brewer’s control. However, SABMiller says the information will help it work with local farmers to promote better water stewardship practices.

In countries like Sudan, SABMiller already provides the local community with fresh water from the water treatment plant that supplies its brewery.

One idea floated by the brewery to help it protect local water resources in developing countries is a mobile brewery ship that could use desalinated seawater. The concept also means that the seagoing brewery could move to different markets from season to season as crops grow and demand for beer rises or falls, according to Andy Wales, SABMiller’s group head of sustainable development.