Diageo, the Coca-Cola Company, AB InBev and other members of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) have published a document that establishes a common framework for greenhouse gas emissions reporting — an industry first, member company Heineken says.
The guide harmonizes reporting within each category — beer, wine spirits, carbonated soft drinks, juices and bottled water — as well as shared emissions sources such as production and packaging materials, says Paul Bruijn, Heineken environmental specialist.
Beverage Industry Sector Guidance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting involved input from member companies PepsiCo, Nestle Waters, Ocean Spray, New Belgium Brewing, MolsonCoors and others. It aims to ensure beverage companies comply with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a GHG accounting tool written by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute, BIER says.
An update to an earlier release from 2010, BIER’s document standardizes calculation steps, provides a directory of data requirements and creates specific rules for boundaries and scope settings. The industry group also says it elaborated on the areas where beverage-specific guidance was needed most: recycling allocation, transportation logistics, maturation of distilled spirits and cooling models.