Canberra’s Capital Brewing has become the first brewery in Australia to be certified carbon neutral under the Federal Government’s Climate Active certification for its entire organisation and all its products.
In addition to the certification, the team have spearheaded the development of a template that will allow other breweries to easily calculate their own carbon emissions and provide a streamlined pathway with a reduced administrative cost, to reduce and offset their emissions and gain carbon neutral certification. Capital said this will be made available to Australian independent breweries via the Independent Brewers Association.
Created in partnership with carbon and energy management company Pangolin Associates and Climate Active, the template is set to be a game changer for the industry helping other breweries to do their bit and become more sustainable.
Founders and managing directors Laurence Kain and Tom Hertel (pictured in that order below) hope the certification and release of the blueprint will inspire other breweries to achieve carbon neutrality.
“With sustainability being at the core of every decision we make, we’re incredibly proud to be recognised by Climate Active as the first brewery in Australia to be certified carbon neutral for our entire operations, all our products, and all direct and indirect emissions we’ve created,” Tom said.
“There is often the expectation that becoming carbon neutral is restrictive, laborious and expensive. However, with the easy-to-use framework and urgent need to act, we’re calling on our fellow brewers to get on board and, together as an industry, let’s lead the way for real action on climate change.”
Capital engaged with Pangolin in 2021 to conduct a life cycle assessment of its entire operations covering all of their direct, indirect, upstream, and downstream activities from raw materials such as aluminium, grain and hops, to energy and water use, waste, freight, staff commuting, and even every piece of paper used in its offices.
After the results were independently audited and verified, Capital purchased internationally certified carbon credits with the Orana Natural Capital Project to offset their CO2 emissions emitted during FY20/21.
Laurence said: “We all have a responsibility to look after our surroundings, and it is widely accepted that our society needs to work quickly to avoid irreversible, catastrophic changes to our environment. We are choosing to provide our customers the option to continue to enjoy an ice cold beer in the knowledge that it’s not warming the planet and in doing so, aim to inspire change throughout the brewing industry.”
Committed to reducing emissions wherever possible and minimising their overall impact on the environment, Capital has implemented numerous energy, water, waste and chemical reduction strategies and processes across its operations. This includes initiatives such as 100 per cent renewable electricity at the brewery, the diversion of 709 tonnes annually of spent grain, hops, and yeast to an organic farm, and a new water-cooled refrigerant plant with low GWP (global warming potential) refrigerant. Initiatives currently in development to further improve environmental performance include an automated Clean-In-Place system to recycle water and chemicals used to clean brewery vessels multiple times, and the transition to an all electric vehicle fleet.
For more information on Capital Brewing Co.’s carbon footprint, head here.
This is an edited version of a media release distributed by Capital Brewing.