10 of its facilities in China have achieved brewing powered by 100% renewable energy
Budweiser Brewing APAC’s China unit has slashed its carbon emissions by over a quarter, meeting its target two years ahead of schedule, according to the company. The brewer plans to completely decarbonise its operations and achieve its target of net zero status across its supply chain by 2040.
In 2017, Budweiser Brewing APAC announced it had set targets to slash its cross-supply chain carbon emissions per unit of output by 25% and achieve 100% renewable electricity sourcing by 2025.
The target was particularly challenging as about 94% of the Hong Kong-listed firm’s across-the-supply chain emissions come from activities outside its own facilities, such as materials suppliers, logistics partners, distributors and customers. Packaging alone accounts for 48% of the emissions, followed by product cooling at 22%, and ingredients agriculture at 11.6%.
By the end of 2023, it achieved a 60.8% reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions at its own operations including purchased energy, compared to 2017.
Its supply chain emissions per unit of output fell 23.8%. China operations alone achieved a 26% reduction. Budweiser APAC has 10 breweries in China, including major facilities at Ziyang, Wuhan, Jinshibai, Jinzhou, Yanji and Kunming which have all achieved brewing powered by 100% renewable energy.
Collaboration with its supplier partners and availability of renewable energy at favourable pricing contributed to the achievement, and are central to future success in China, says Jan Clysner, vice-president of procurement and sustainability at Budweiser APAC. “We help them measure their emissions and put together action plans. It is almost like a free consultancy to our suppliers.”
To monitor performance, the company also engaged Shanghai-based start-up Carbonebook in 2022 to help it build a digital system to collect carbon emissions data from suppliers and help the suppliers trace their own suppliers’ emissions. The system covered 37 suppliers in 86 sites, which accounted for about 40% of Budweiser China’s supply chain carbon footprint.
In Ziyang, Sichuan province, the company’s brewery last year became the first in the Chinese beer industry to install electric boilers, replacing natural gas models. The company’s breweries in Wuhan in central China, as well as in Jinzhou and Jiamusi in northeast China, have achieved carbon-neutral status, using 100% clean energy for their operations.
