As much as we love beer, we also realize brewing is a resource-intensive and heavy waste-producing industry. Lots of water. Lots of wastewater. Lots of ingredients. Lots of spent ingredients. All that packaging. We recycle, and we like to think other people recycle, but most people don’t recycle. Not so fun fact: Colorado has a municipal recycling rate hovering between 10 to 16 percent, meaning only a small percentage of its trash is ever recycled. Colorado is also a state where some of the best beer in the world is made. Don’t even get us started on shrink wraps for cans.
Lots of breweries also acknowledge these facts, and many craft beverage makers are implementing green and eco-focused practices and missions to better their businesses and the environment. We love to celebrate those breweries. For instance, Lawson’s Finest Liquids is celebrating B Corp month in March. Well done. Yuengling and Keep America Beautiful just announced their 2024 partnership, including a $50,000 from Yuengling to support the Great American Cleanup — a trash gathering that annually unifies and beautifies communities across the country.
“We’re aiming to pick up more than 10 million pieces of litter during the 2024 Great American Cleanup and great partners like Yuengling are helping to make that possible,” said Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful in this post.
That’s incredible. Now, here comes another big win for craft brewing and the environment. Just recently, a coalition of New England states announced the BetterBev Green Craft Beverage Recognition Program — a sustainability initiative funded in part by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Program. What’s extremely cool about the BetterBev program is that it helps beverage producers throughout New England understand their environmental practices, principles and impact, with the goal of reducing production inefficiencies, improving health and safety and conserving natural resources. This is a recognition program, not only helping craft breweries become more environmentally-responsible businesses, but also allowing these beer makers to market their products with a green halo.
BetterBev recognition can be earned after a beverage producer’s state oversight organization works with them to perform an audit and assessment of their environmental practices and impact. The audit and assessment covers 10 performance criteria:
- Environmentally responsible sourcing
- Water usage
- Wastewater reduction
- Stormwater management
- Energy efficiency and conservation
- CO2 use and emissions
- Cleaning and sanitizing
- Waste reduction
- Packaging format and materials
- Environmental culture
Beverage producers reaching specific performance thresholds over the 10 areas will earn the BetterBev recognition. Those that don’t reach the required thresholds will be supported by their state oversight organization and receive the technical assistance necessary to improve their performance and receive recognition. The oversight organizations responsible for managing the BetterBev program in their respective state are:
- Connecticut: Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
- Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Boston
- Maine: New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine
- New Hampshire: Pollution Prevention Program at the Department of Environmental Services
- Rhode Island: Department of Environmental Management
- Vermont: New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine
From the press release:
“We must constantly assess the impact our actions have on the environment, so we believe a beverage producer’s focus should be on continual improvement,” explained Luke Truman, Sustainability Coordinator for the Craft Beverage Sector Program at the New England Environmental Finance Center, located at the University of Southern Maine. “We’re grading ourselves against a constantly moving target, so we created the BetterBev program with a mindset of consistent effort, striving for improvement over time.”
According to the Brewers Association, the New England region is home to more than 600 craft breweries, not including other craft beverage producers such as distilleries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies. Via the BetterBev program, these beverage makers can drive continuous improvement by tracking waste generation and measuring the use of energy, water and material inputs. For beverage producers that invest time and resources in sustainable practices, BetterBev will also help those businesses gain efficiencies, reduce costs and receive recognition as a green business.
Pollution Prevention (P2) technical assistance
Since 2022, the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to establish Pollution Prevention (P2) technical assistance initiatives that help craft beverage producers improve their environmental performance. State-based Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) have reached out to hundreds of craft beverage manufacturers to assess their production practices and provided recommendations to improve process efficiencies. Some states built very effective initiatives around these efforts, such as the New Hampshire Sustainable Craft Beverage recognition program (NHSCB) run by its Department of Environmental Services.
In 2023, building on the success of the NHSCB, state P2 programs decided to launch a sustainability recognition program for craft beverage producers throughout all of New England. This regional approach, which grew into BetterBev, has the potential to increase visibility, drive business participation, and disseminate environmental best practices.
“We were all moving in the same direction, working on similar initiatives, so it only made sense to partner and work together,” added Kathy Black, Pollution Prevention Program Manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. “The BetterBev Program amplifies the work each state is doing and raises awareness about how businesses can care for the environment and worker’s health and safety while making tasty craft beverages.”
To learn more about the BetterBev Green Craft Beverage Recognition Program, including how a producer can participate, visit the BetterBev program page at www.betterbev.org.
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