Beer Maker Carlsberg Halves Water Usage at its Brewery

(The state-of-the-art water recycling plant is to be built at Carlsberg's site in Fredericia, Denmark. Credit: Carlsberg)

by | Oct 30, 2019

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(The state-of-the-art water recycling plant is to be built at Carlsberg’s site in Fredericia, Denmark. Credit: Carlsberg)

Carlsberg’s Fredericia brewery was selected as a test site for its first total water recycling plant. This plant will reduce average water consumption at the brewery from the current 2.9 hl of water per hl of beer to 1.4 hl of water per hl of beer, which will make it the first brewery to virtually eliminate water waste.

Since the introduction of its sustainability program Together Towards ZERO, the Carlsberg Group’s ambition has been to move towards zero carbon emissions and zero water waste at its breweries, including a target to halve water usage. In specific terms, Carlsberg set out to reduce water usage from 3.4 hl of water per hl of beer at the 2015 baseline to 1.7 hl of water per hl of beer by 2030.

It is estimated that the total water recycling plant will also reduce the brewery’s energy consumption by 10% through own biogas production and recirculation of hot water, further contributing to the Together Towards ZERO sustainability program.

The Fredericia brewery was inaugurated on September 25, 1979. Back then, the water-to-beer ratio was 4:1 at a time when the global norm was above 6:1.

The water recycling plant is a partnership project initiated through the public-private partnership DRIP (the Danish partnership for Resource and water-efficient Industrial food Production). The project involves not only universities and technology providers, but also the Danish veterinary, environment and food authorities, thereby ensuring that it meets Denmark’s high food and environment standards.

Together Towards zero consists of four ambitions: zero carbon footprint, zero water waste, zero irresponsible drinking and a zero accidents culture. Each of these is underpinned by individual measurable targets to be achieved by 2022 or 2030.

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