AB InBev is to open a new automated warehouse in Wales next month, which it says will save hundreds of tonnes of CO2 per year.
The warehouse will adjoin AB InBev’s brewery in Magor, South Wales, and hold 23 million pints of beer - the equivalent of five Olympic swimming pools.
The brewer claims automation - the warehouse will use three double pallet handling cranes to move stock and an automatic storage and retrieval system rather than vehicles such as forklift trucks - will save 605 tonnes of CO2, roughly the annual usage of more than 120 UK homes.
Four “highly-skilled permanent jobs” would be created with its opening, it said.
“Our brewery runs around the clock so operating sustainably is a necessity for our business as well as the local community,” said the Magor brewery’s GM Lloyd Manship.
It’s the latest in a series of moves towards greater sustainability by the Budweiser and Stella owner, which earlier this year unveiled a new brewing technique which slashes heat and water consumption and reduces CO2 emissions by simulating gas bubbles without needing to boil the beer.
Once implemented across the business’ breweries, it is billed as having the potential to reduce global CO2 emissions by 5% per year and water consumption by 0.5%.
AB InBev claims the innovation will repay itself within two years, and has said it will share the technology with smaller brewers free of charge.
AB InBev isn’t the only multinational brewer ramping up its sustainability credentials. Carlsberg this month unveiled an all-encompassing, sustainability-led revamp for its flagship ‘green’ pilsner, including a new snap-pack glue to replace plastic packaging, which it claims will reduce its plastic use by 1,200 tonnes across its global portfolio per year.
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