Heineken pumps £25m sustainability investment into brewery
The investment will go towards reducing the carbon emissions produced by the Manchester brewery.
Heineken UK has announced plans for a £25m investment into its Manchester brewery, which includes installing heat pumps to reduce its carbon emissions. The investment will support the group's global ambitions to reach net-zero emissions across scopes 1 and 2 by 2030, including its UK production sites in Manchester, Tadcaster and Hereford, and across the full value chain – scope 3 – by 2040.
The total investment, which includes a £3.7m grant from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, will be used to install technology to capture heat from various sources, including the refrigeration units on site, and to then redistribute and reuse this excess heat to power other brewing stages – such as mashing and pasteurisation, and even to wash the returnable kegs.
The technology adoption is a major step in the brewery’s mission to reduce its carbon emissions, as until now, gas has been used to generate the heat needed for certain parts of the brewing process. Once completed, it is estimated the installation will result in a circa 45% reduction in gas use at the site, significantly reducing carbon emissions.
'We want to brew a better world'
Boudewijn Haarsma, managing director of Heineken UK, says: "We’ve been around for 150 years and if we want to be here in another 150 years, we need to act now to deliver on our sustainability ambitions. In short, we want to brew a better world.
"This announcement is hugely positive and represents a sizeable inward investment from Heineken into UK decarbonisation. It builds on our wider company-wide efforts to reduce our emissions as we continue to work towards our global ambitions to reach net-zero across our production sites (scope 1 and 2) by 2030. We will not get there alone, we know collaboration with partners will be key.
"There’s been a brewery at this site for well over 100 years, and we’ve been proudly brewing in Manchester for 15 years. With the city of Manchester’s ambition to reach net-zero by 2038, we want to play our part in this journey for the city and its people, and to share the learnings we gather along the way."
The company, which is the UK’s largest pub, cider and beer producer, behind household name brands including Birra Moretti, Foster’s, Strongbow and Cruzcampo, is thought to be the first beverage company of this scale in the UK to install this technology.
Heineken Manchester Brewery employs 240 people, and it’s expected up to 100 people from around 10 businesses will work on-site during the installation of the heat pumps and heat network. Work is due to complete by the end of 2024.
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