Nigerian Breweries Plc said it had saved N2.5bn in energy efficiency at its breweries since it implemented the application in 2009. It added that the company has recorded annual energy efficiency increase through production volumes.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Mr. Nicholaas Vervelde revealed this to the media in a document titled: “Sustainability Report”.

He added that plans were in top gear to switch from diesel to gas.

“We have extended the number of breweries that are natural gas from three to four. Others will switch in the future. These will significantly reduce our carbon footprint and operating cost,” he said.

Mr. Vervelde added that the Aba Brewery achieved a 49 per cent reduction in thermal energy consumption, which represents nearly 80 million standard cubic feet of gas burned to release Co2 into the atmosphere thereby saving on estimated electricity consumption by nearly 600 averaged size homes.

In addition, he said that the amount of carbon would have required more than 110,000 trees grown for 10 years, noting it remains the best thermal energy consumption results in the entire Heineken world.

On water reduction, Vervelde revealed that Nigerian Breweries has also achieved 32 percent reduction through minimizing leakages, reducing waste, reusing treated wastewater for gardening, good housekeeping and in toilets.

He maintained that his company would continue to find ways to reduce specific water consumption in the production of their brands to encourage sustainability.

“We inaugurated an ultra-modern automatic wastewater treatment plant in Aba brewery. It is automated with high profile spray tower for removing Co2 and volatile gases. The new plant has helped to improve our handling of wastewater and enhance water consumption records as well as our environmental performance,” he said.

Furthermore, he disclosed that Nigerian Breweries signed a partnership agreement with Psaltry International Company Limited as a sign of its commitment to sustain local sourcing of raw materials, and 2SCALE, a Dutch consortium, to improve cassava output. The end result of the partnerships is to optimize the cassava value chain in Nigeria and improve the business of smallholder farmers of the crop, he said.

He said that the partnership agreed to support small scale farmers with technical assistance, training and easier access to finance to produce more and better cassava.

Ha added that the endeavor will empower small holder farmers to participate in the market for processed cassava by-products for industrial base. In his opinion, it will sustain the activities of ancillary industries that supply cans, bottles, plastic crates, labels and other materials used in our production processes. Besides providing direct employment opportunities, he said the company support more other indirect jobs across the value chain, he added.

Highlighting Nigerian Breweries economic impact on the Nigerian economy, he explained that the company supported 50,000 jobs in Sorghum industry and a total of 279,000 jobs in other sectors with a total value addition of N292bn, including government revenue of N28bn.

On quality assurance, he said that Nigerian Breweries was able to influence supplier behavior by conducting a risk assessment on suppliers to evaluate the compliance of their business practices with the company’s values. The code covers issues of acceptable environment management and respect for human rights among others, he added.

Finally, he said that Nigerian Breweries’ policy target for 2020 is to build measurable partnerships, 50 percent of its raw materials to be supplied from sustainable sources, and 60 per cent of agricultural raw materials in Africa to be locally sourced within the continent.