WWF, SABMiller unveil water footprint of beer

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Water footprinting is being increasingly used to understand the total amount of water that supports our lifestyles; the water used to create the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the beverages we drink.

At this year’s Stockholm Water Week, multi-national brewing company SABMiller and WWF, two members of the Water Footprint Network, will publish a report which explains the water footprint of the whole value chain for SABMiller’s beers in South Africa and the Czech Republic.

SABMiller and WWF are working together on water footprinting to better understand the quantity, efficiency and geographical context of water used to produce beer in order that this resource can then be better managed. The two organisations are using the insight provided by water footprinting to develop targeted programmes to improve water management. For example SAB Ltd in South Africa is already working with barley farmers to improve their yields and water use, and with WWF the company is now considering how to develop this further to protect the watersheds within which it operates.

A water footprint encompasses the entire value chain, from crop cultivation and processing, through to brewing and distributing the beer and details the total water input, both direct and indirect. The new report reveals that in South Africa, the total water footprint is equivalent to 155 litres of water for every 1 litre of beer such as Castle lager and Carling Black Label. The vast majority of this (98.3 per cent) comes from the cultivation of crops, both local and imported.

For Plzensky Prazdroj, SABMiller’s Czech operation and home of Pilsner Urquell, agriculture is again the most significant component; accounting for over 90 per cent of the total water footprint. However, the overall water footprint is significantly smaller at 45 litres of water to every 1 litre of beer. This difference is due to a number of factors including weather, the reliance on irrigation in South Africa and the proportion and origin of imported crops.

In comparison with other beverages, beer’s water footprint is relatively small; for example an independent report has estimated that coffee, wine and apple juice all have water footprints more than three times that of beer. However, the water footprint figure itself does not give the whole picture. More important is the context - where it is used, what proportion of the area’s total water resource it represents, and whether water scarcity creates risks to the environment, communities and businesses now or in the future.

Stuart Orr, WWF’s freshwater footprint manager, said: “The water footprints of SABMiller’s beers in South Africa and the Czech Republic are the first detailed corporate water footprints to be published and are progressive in the way they examine the impact of water use within these countries. Most important is that this information is now used to ensure that their business partners, particularly farmers, are encouraged to use water more efficiently.”