Miller Brewing Company on June 5 released its second annual Sustainable Development Report, entitled "Live Sustainably." The report details the company's progress against its global sustainable development priorities, including areas such as alcohol responsibility, water conservation, energy and carbon reduction, recycling, supply chain management and social investment. The report also features employees who are driving notable sustainable development efforts within the company.
"As you'll see in these pages, Miller people are driving our progress on sustainable development," said Tom Long, president and CEO. "I believe that our passion for sustainable development – when harnessed into sharper, bolder and faster approaches – will only make us stronger in our industry and in our quest to live sustainably."
Available online at http://www.millerbrewing.com/, the 28-page report includes the following highlights and efforts by Miller employees:
· Reduced Miller's water-to-beer ratio to less than 4:1. This reduction is nearly two years ahead of schedule, as the company set this as a 2010 goal.
· Reduced fossil fuel consumption to 1.45 therms per barrel, putting Miller well within reach of a 2010 target of 1.40 therms per barrel.
· Reduced waste to landfill by 2.5 million pounds over the last five years. Miller currently recycles 99.9 percent of all packaging waste.
· Initiated a switch to energy-efficient fluorescent lights in all six brewery facilities that will drive a 9 million kilowatt hour reduction across the company.
· Recycled brewery waste water to generate biogas at its Irwindale brewery that produced enough electrical capacity to power 50 average California homes.
· Expanded the Respect 21 Responsible Retailing Program into 10 new markets and launched Keep Your Balance, a program designed to educate motorcyclists about responsible riding.
· Tallied more than 1.7 million riders over the 20-year history of the Miller Free Rides program that offers alternative transportation on key holidays to help prevent drunk driving incidents.
· Made corporate social investments totaling more than $5.1 million across our brewery communities, representing 1.4 percent of the company's pre-tax profit.
· Contributed more than $1.7 million since 2001 through the Miller Brewing Company Employee Fund, a cross-functional committee of employees who spearhead the giving campaign, establish a set of criteria for non-profit funding and oversee the distribution of the employee donations to local non-profits. In 2007, the fund contributed $278,217 to 19 organizations that focus on hunger, at-risk youth and domestic violence issues.
"Miller's 153-year history is built on Frederick Miller's unwavering commitment to uncompromising quality and his adopted home of Milwaukee," said Kim Marotta, senior director of corporate social responsibility. "Today that tradition is alive and well in our community social investments across our brewery communities, and it serves as the foundation for our other priorities including alcohol responsibility and the environment."
This year's report also includes an external commentary from Corporate Citizenship, a third party assurance specialist; a tracking of Miller efforts against the United Nations Global Compact principles; and outside viewpoints from experts in the fields of alcohol responsibility, water conservation, AIDS and HIV and corporate social investment.
About Miller
Committed to creating strong communities across America, Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Company invests millions of dollars each year through community initiatives, taxes paid and local goods and services purchased. The company's platform for corporate social investment and community partnership is Miller REACH, which focuses on five primary causes: Responsibility, Employment, AIDS/HIV, Cultural Diversity and Heritage Initiatives. Miller is a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller plc, one of the world's leading brewers with a global footprint spread across six continents.