MillerCoors on June 29 released its 2010 Sustainable Development report, titled "Great Beer, Great Responsibility," which details progress across the company's corporate social responsibility commitments. The brewer succeeded in exceeding its 2015 goal for waste reduction, by eliminating 20 percent of the amount of waste sent to landfill. In total, the company reuses or recycles nearly 100 percent of all brewery waste and achieved zero waste to landfill at two of its breweries. The report is available in its entirety on www.GreatBeerGreatResponsibility.com.
"Surpassing our 2015 waste reduction goal five years early is a phenomenal success that demonstrates the commitment and passion of MillerCoors people across all of our brewery operations," said MillerCoors chief responsibility and ethics officer Cornell Boggs. "We recognize that sustainable development requires a sustained commitment and we're working to further improve our performance for generations to come. Great Beer, Great Responsibility defines our commitment to creating America's Best Beer Company by growing our business the right way."
MillerCoors 2010 Sustainable Development Report includes an assessment of the company's performance in 2009, specifically in regards to company goals across its five key responsibilities: Alcohol Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Supply Chain, People and Communities, and Ethics and Transparency. Woven throughout the report is the company's belief that the privilege of producing great beer comes with great responsibility – to its people, partners, communities and the environment.
In 2009, MillerCoors also:
- Reduced waste to landfill by 20 percent and achieved zero waste at its Trenton, Ohio, and Elkton, Va., breweries.
- Expanded the Miller Lite Free Rides program, which has provided 2.3 million riders with safe alternative transportation on key holidays, to four new markets.
- Reduced total energy consumption by 3.6 percent, lowered greenhouse gas emissions by 1.2 percent and renewed its commitment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program, pledging to reduce corporate-wide greenhouse gas emissions eight percent by 2015.
- Recorded a world-class ratio of 3.40 barrels of water for every barrel of beer at its Ft. Worth, Texas brewery.
- Completed the largest installation of membrane bioreactor technology in the U.S. at its Elkton, Va. brewery.
- Began engineering at its Elkton, Va. brewery to reuse biogas from its anaerobic wastewater treatment system for generating electrical power, which the company currently does at two of its four anaerobic wastewater treatment systems.
- Reduced packaging materials by an estimated 11 million pounds in Coors Light and Coors Banquet secondary packaging.
- Held its first annual Water Stewardship Month, which resulted in nearly 1,700 hours of volunteer time from employees toward watershed protection and improvement activities.
- Allocated 7.4 percent of its total 2009 spend to diverse suppliers.
MillerCoors also engaged an external assuror, Corporate Citizenship, to review the report. Corporate Citizenship conducted interviews with employees and provided a commentary within the report. According to Corporate Citizenship, "MillerCoors has moved forward significantly in advancing its own sustainable development activities in the past year."
About MillerCoors
Built on a foundation of great beer brands and more than 288 years of brewing heritage, MillerCoors continues the commitment of its founders to brew the highest quality beers. MillerCoors is the second-largest beer company in America, capturing nearly 30 percent of U.S. beer sales. Led by two of the best-selling beers in the industry, MillerCoors has a broad portfolio of highly complementary brands across every major industry segment.
