Heineken using nine million leftover pints to generate electricity

Heineken Ireland repurposed over 5,000 tonnes of beer that was going to go to waste during lockdown, and sent it to anaerobic digestion plants.

The thought of even pouring one cold pint of beer down the drain would be tough for many to consider during lockdown — so imagine what it was like for Heineken Ireland, with the prospect of nine million pints going to waste.

The brewing giant decided that if the sea of cold ones weren’t going into the bellies of their customers, then they would be sacrificed for the greater good — the environment.

Heineken Ireland repurposed over 5,000 tonnes of beer collected from bars during lockdown and sent it to anaerobic digestion plants.

Those 5,000 tonnes, the equivalent of 100,000 kegs or nine million pints, created 480kW per hour of electricity and heat, which the firm calculated as akin to powering 48,000 houses for one day, based on an average household’s annual electricity consumption.

Good uses for waste beer

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If the beer wasn’t going towards creating electricity and heat, it was instead used as agricultural fertiliser, the firm said in its 2020 sustainability progress report.

The Cork-headquartered arm of the Dutch brewing giant said it has been removing plastic shrink and can connectors from across its range of beers and ciders in 2020. That is geared towards eliminating four million pieces of would-be consumer waste in 2021. 

It also recorded a cumulative 50% reduction in transport emissions, it claimed.

Total energy usage in 2020 also reduced considerably with gas down by almost 34% and energy down 32% as production volumes at the brewery in Cork fell due to the prolonged closure of the hospitality sector.

Water wastage was also down 42% in 2020, according to the firm.

'Unique challenges' in 2020

Heineken Ireland’s sustainability and public affairs manager, Barbara-Anne Richardson, said 2020 marked 10 years of its programme to reduce its environmental impact.

“Although 2020 posed unique and profound challenges for the drinks industry, we are pleased to report that despite lower production levels, we have achieved key targets within our control across waste, packaging, and transport as well as significant reductions in water and energy use.

“From deploying energy reducing transport solutions to sustainably re-purposing beer from pubs in lockdown to create energy and agricultural fertiliser, we never lost sight of our environmental commitments in 2020.”