Does Carlsberg have a formalised environmental policy?

Yes, Carlsberg has adapted an environmental policy containing seven core goals, which are particularly relevant for our primary business activities, the production, sale and distribution of beer and other commercial beverages:

1.      We will continuously minimise adverse effects on the environment, and optimise the use of natural resources.

2.      We will protect and improve the environment in majority-owned subsidiaries. We will ensure that these subsidiaries, as a minimum, comply with all applicable local environmental legislation and regulations.

3.      We will systematically and continuously measure and improve our performance through an international recognised environmental management system, which will be supported by training and awareness programmes for relevant employees and by annual review of targets.

4.      We will prioritise environmentally investments in the planning, budgeting and implementation of our activities.

5.      We will implement Carlsberg Breweries' environmental strategy in joint ventures and in associated companies whenever possible.

6.      We will encourage partners and suppliers to operate in an environmentally acceptable way.

7.      We are dedicated to an open and unbiased dialogue about environmental issues with our stakeholders.

How will Carlsberg reduce the impact on the environment from its activities during the UEFA EURO 2008™?

There are two main areas, where Carlsberg can make a difference to the benefit of the environment during an event such as UEFA EURO 2008™:

Needless to say the many thousands visitors during the tournament in Switzerland and Austria will want cold beverages and cups to drink it out of, so the environmental impact from refrigeration and cups needs to be reduced as much as possible. Those two areas are our main focus, since that’s where we can make a significant positive impact.

We believe that UEFA and the local authorities have found a good solution that takes into consideration the full environmental chain from production via transportation to disposal, as well as necessary operational considerations.

What are you going to do about the millions of plastic cups – will you e.g. use reusable cups like they did at the World Cup in Germany?

The decision on which cups to use is not Carlsberg’s. 

UEFA has decided to implement re-usable cups across all four Austrian stadia and in Zurich in Switzerland. And UEFA has decided to use one-way cups in Basel, Bern and Geneva.

We believe that this solutions is the best for the environment and takes into account the operational circumstances, and we will loyally comply. We will be present to join the party and to be part of the game – not to harm the environment in any way.

What do you mean by “the operational circumstances”?

Our operational circumstances are that several million guests have to be served – and have a good time without unreasonably long waiting lines – during a short 3 week tournament with 31 matches. The activities – and the guests – will be spread across 8 host cities in two different countries, with matches in 8 stadia as well as large screens in dozens of fan parks and other public viewing areas.

What is Carlsberg’s position on the environmental considerations: plastic cups vs. reusable cups?

 

We see pros and cons with both solutions, but believe that UEFA has chosen the solutions that take both environmental and operational issues into consideration.

What is the environmental impact from the non-reusable cups?

The new cups are made of bio-degradable materials such as sweet corn. The technical phrase is Polylactide, PLA, but basically you make porridge out of for instance sweet corn, wheat or potatoes and then add lactic acid. After a process that includes distillation and heating the fluid thickens and finally becomes completely solid.

When the cup has been used you can do the reverse process, add some water and the material will dissolve into harmless lactic acid. We will obviously support the collection of used cups, e.g. through a deposit system.

How many cups do you expect you have to use during the UEFA EURO 2008™?

Based on our experience we presently expect to use between 10-15 million cups, so needless to say we have an interest in reducing the environmental impact to the largest extend possible.

How will you handle waste?

Carlsberg has a general policy of reducing waste. For instance, we need a lot of materials, signage, posters, etc. for an event like the UEFA EURO 2008. We require that our suppliers deliver all these materials to us in bulk packing, i.e. not individually wrapped in plastic. This is just an example, but this saves us for a significant amount of waste.

Also, we have chosen to deliver all beer as draft beer in stead of in bottles or cans. This reduces the impact from transportation as well as – obviously – the waste or recycling of millions of bottles or cans.

The area, where we will have waste, is the cups for the draft beer. We are satisfied that UEFA has chosen to use biodegradeable cups which reduces the impact on the environment.

 

How will you reduce the impact on the environment of cooling all that beer?

There are two aspects of refrigeration that are important to look at in relation to the environmental impact: the refrigerators’ energy consumption and their cooling liquid – that is whether or not they use a cooling liquid such as HFC, which is known to have a negative impact on the environment.

Carlsberg is in the process of replacing HFC refrigerators with more environmentally friendly refrigerators using HC (Hydro Carbon) as cooling liquid. These refrigerators are also superior in terms of energy efficiency, and during the EUFA EURO 2008 as many refrigerators as possible will be these new refrigerators.

Carlsberg is a member of “Refrigerants, Naturally!” which is a multi-stakeholder initiative recognised as a "Partnership for Sustainable Development" by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The goal of the initiative is to promote a shift in the point-of-sale cooling technology in the food and drink, food service and retail sectors towards alternative HFC-free refrigeration technologies that protect the Earth's climate and ozone layer. The initiative is supported by Greenpeace and by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Memberships in the initiative include McDonald's, the Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, IKEA, PepsiCo and Carlsberg. These companies share the commitment to eliminate HFCs in point-of-sale cooling applications.