ARCHIVED - Jaen Heineken beer factory the first in Spain to run on 100 per cent renewable electricity
The plant in Jaen (Andalusia) runs exclusively on renewable energy and recycles more than 95 per cent of the waste it produces.
Heineken Spain has become the first beverage company in the country with a Zero Waste to Landfill factory and has set itself the goal of being the first zero-emissions brewers in Spain by 2025.
The group’s Cruzcampo factory in Jaen, which recovered more than 1,148 tonnes of waste in 2020, has been awarded the ‘From Waste to Resources: Zero to Landfill’ seal following an independent audit to ensure that it complied with demanding standards that require a net recovery of 95 per cent or more.
Likewise, the seal guarantees that the entire waste recovery process is traceable and transparent to prove that the operations are carried out in a controlled manner and in strict compliance with the law.
The Jaen factory plays a major role in Heineken Spain’s environmental roadmap for 2021. The plant already runs exclusively on 100 per cent renewable electricity, returns to nature all the water contained in the beers it brews and will soon be the first zero-emissions brewery in Spain, running exclusively on renewable energy through solar power and the use of biomass.
Very few companies have so far managed to attain the high level of waste recovery that the factory has achieved with the assistance of Saica Natur, a member of a leading waste management and environmental services group. Waste is separated at source and the entire team has been involved in determining the best ways to recycle it: glass is used to make new bottles, sludge becomes fertilizer for local crops, and paper, cardboard and plastic are used to manufacture recycled packaging.
President of Heineken Spain, Guillaume Duverdier, said: "This milestone is a major step forward in our ambition to become the first zero-emissions brewery in Spain by 2025. A challenge that we will achieve thanks to our commitment to the circular economy and renewable energies, brewing beers that the world, people and the planet love".