Carlsberg to halve water usage at Fredericia brewery in Denmark

Global brewer Carlsberg has announced plans to invest in its brewery in Fredericia, Denmark to halve water usage at the facility.

Fredericia brewery will be the test site for the water recycling plant, which will reduce water usage from 2.9hl of water per hectolitre of beer to 1.4hl of water.

The investment will enable the recycling of 90% of all process water, meaning it will be the first brewery to eliminate almost all water waste.

Carlsberg Group integrated supply chain executive vice-president Philip Hodges said: “This is a big investment for us but also a necessary next step on our journey towards ZERO water waste across all our breweries.

“By recycling 90% of all process water, the Fredericia brewery will halve its current average water consumption for brewing beer, taking it below our 2030 target.

“The Fredericia brewery has consistently focused on resource management and water reduction but we need better use of advanced water recycling technologies to reach the ambitious targets in our Together Towards ZERO programme.”

Carlsberg unveiled its sustainability programme, Together Towards ZERO in 2017, whereby the company aimed to eliminate carbon emissions, as well as reduce water consumption by 50% at its breweries by the end of 2030.

As part of the initiative, the company aims to reduce water usage from 3.4hl of water per hl of beer at the 2015 baseline to 1.7hl of water per hl of beer by 2030.

The Fredericia brewery, which includes a bottling plant and warehouse terminal, is powered by biogas and green electricity.

In November 2017, Carlsberg Sverige became the first large-scale carbon-neutral brewery in Sweden.