Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to significantly cut the amount of water used by its breweries around the world over the next three years.

The Stella Artois and Budweiser brewer said yesterday (15 March) that it aims to use 3.5 hectolitres (hl) of water per hecotlitre of beer produced by the end of 2012.

A-B InBev said the move is part of its commitment to the CEO Water Mandate, a partnership between several multinational companies and the United Nations.

The brewer used an average of 4.3hl of water per 1hl of beer in 2009, down from 5hl in 2008. 

The company added that it plans to reuse more water at its breweries, as well as cut carbon emissions and energy use per hl of beer by 10% by the end of 2012. It has already reduced energy use by 11% since 2007, it added.

“We are acutely aware that water is a finite and precious resource and the principal ingredient in our products,” said Carlos Brito, CEO of A-B InBev. “Efficient water use is essential to the continued, sustainable growth of our business around the world,” he said.

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More than 25 A-B InBev breweries around the world, including ten facilities in the US, already use the Bio-Energy Recovery System (BERS), a method of capturing methane from brewery waste water to produce steam, said the brewer.

Rival brewer SABMiller has also pledged to reduce water use per hectolitre of beer to the same ratio, although it has set itself a deadline of 2015, instead of the 2012 date announced by A-B InBev.

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