Heineken wants to be fully circular in the Netherlands by 2030, with breweries that are completely climate neutral. It started brewing Heineken for the Dutch market with 100% green energy last month: covering all product and packaging variants under the brand, including Heineken 0.0.
This will mean around three million hectolitres of beer are brewed with green energy each year.
The green energy consists of solar energy, wind energy and biogas from waste purification. Biogas is produced from the waste water of the breweries in Zoeterwoude and Den Bosch and supplemented with biogas from the waste purification of the Aa Water Authority and Maas.
“We really consider green energy to be an indispensable new ingredient in our Heineken beer,” said Hans Böhm, managing director, Heineken Netherlands.
“Wind and sun are just as important as hops, water and yeast. The use of sustainable energy literally makes Heineken even greener.”
Heineken’s next step is to address packaging materials and make them more sustainable. Affligem Blond and Affligem Blond 0.0% will be introduced in refillable brown returnable bottles in September, with plans to extend the packaging to all Affligem variants in 2021.
It is also using ‘mini’ tank beer trucks in Dutch city centres such as Utrecht and Den Bosch, reducing the need for large trucks.
It will also start reducing CO2 emissions in Dutch inland shipping in 2021, as the first customer of Zero Emission Services B.V. (ZES). The new electric sailing system will mean Heineken can transport emission-free beer from its brewery in Zoeterwoude to the port in Moerdijk.
