GHANA – Accra Brewery Limited (ABL), Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev’s subsidiary has announced plans to focus more on solutions for the recycling of its Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles, reported Ghana News Agency (GNA).
This follows a successful separation between the brewery and Voltic Ghana, a manufacturer of natural mineral water brand.
Before the separation of the two entities, Voltic which used most PET bottles was responsible for PET recycling for the combined business.
Since this was done on a small scale, Mr Philip Redman, Country Director of ABL said the company was planning to put up a recycle plant but this is most likely to be Nigeria.
ABL has been put to the task to work out own methods to recycle its PET, now that it operates on its own.
“I totally agree we need to do much more,” added Redman.
He noted that the Brewery recognised the need to do more in that regard thus the move to put some of its products out of PET bottles and into glass bottles.
Sustainability with reusable glass bottles
Accra Brewery Limited launched a new Returnable Glass Bottle (RGB) for its non-alcoholic brand, Beta Malt in December last year.
This was in line with its 2025 sustainability Goal on reusable or recyclable packing, which requires the company to partner with suppliers to either make bottles 100% returnable or use majority recycled materials by 2025.
The innovation also strengthens Beta Malt as a consumer-centred brand, plus a commitment to being trusted for a diverse portfolio of high quality brands.
“So we’ll be looking to see how we can move to that over the next few years, but we have much more to do, I don’t deny that.
The good news for our business is that the vast majority of our business is in glass and it is in returnable glass, which from an environmental perspective is the best medium to go in,” stated Redman.
Such investments in ABL forms part of AB InBev’s global goal on Climate Action Sustainability with an aim to source 100% of its purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
In line with this, the company revealed that it is currently assessing a project to implement a mid-size on-site solar scheme, which will provide about three megawatts of electricity.
The company currently has streetlights on site which run on solar power, while it used bio-gas, generated from its production, to power one of its boilers.
