Water
Access to sufficient clean water is vital
to our business. We use water as an ingredient
and for cleaning purposes. We aim to clean
our waste water prior to giving it back to
the eco-system.
Scarce and valuable
Water is a valuable and in some cases scarce commodity for
the communities in which our breweries are located.
Therefore, we are active in our efforts to define areas of
water scarcity and make lowering our consumption in these
areas a priority. Wherever we operate, we aim to clean our
waste water prior to discharging it back into the eco system,
either via our own waste water treatment plants or through
those of the local authorities.
What we said we would do and what we delivered
Sign and support the UN CEO Water Mandate
On 20 March 2009 Jean-Francois van Boxmeer signed a letter
to the United Nations confirming Heineken's endorsement of
this important initiative. The requirements of the UN CEO Water
Mandate have been integrated within our new approach.
Redefine the scope of and approach to our water
and climate programme for 2010 - 2020
Water is a key area within our new plans to 2020. You can read
about our new sustainability framework and progress in
Appendix 1: Brewing a Better Future (pages 38-41).
As a result of the change to consolidated reporting (see page 2),
we have restated our 2008 water results in order to enable
a valid performance comparison to be made.
In 2009, our total specific water consumption was 4.8 hectolitres
of water per hectolitre of beer, soft drink and cider (hi water/
hi beer). Compared with a restated 2008 figure of 5.1 hi
water/hi beer, this is an improvement but slightly behind
our target of 4.7 hi water/hi beer for 2009.
Performance
Sustainability Report 2009 - Heineken N.V.
