Canada’s Waterloo Brewing, the trade name of Brick Brewing, is the first brewer to be awarded the Smart Green grant.

Smart Green grants are awarded by the Smart Green fund to the Ontario-based businesses for their investments in technology and process improvements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase productivity.

Waterloo Brewing president and CEO George Croft said: “Almost three years ago we made an unprecedented commitment to environmental stewardship.

“When we installed our new brewhouse in 2015 it reduced our thermal energy consumption by 52%, electricity by 33%, water consumption by over 50% and wastewater generation by over 50%, all while increasing our output by 300%.

“At that point, we became one of the greenest brewhouses in all of North America.”

“Almost three years ago we made an unprecedented commitment to environmental stewardship. At that point, we became one of the greenest brewhouses in all of North America .”

The C$477,561 ($374,264) grant will be used by Brick to purchase new beer pasteurisation equipment that will further reduce the brewery’s environmental footprint.

The Smart Green fund was established by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) in partnership with the Government of Ontario in 2016.

CME president and CEO Dennis Darby said: “Through the SMART Green funding programme, Waterloo Brewing was awarded $477,561 toward the implementation of a new tunnel pasteuriser that will reduce their natural gas consumption and lessen the GHG impact by almost 23 tonnes annually.

“This is an important contribution and a step forward in Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan to transition to a low-carbon economy.”