International brewer HEINEKEN has partnered with Arcadis, along with NIRAS and Royal HaskoningDHV, for its global Net Zero Production programme. These partners will provide technical expertise to help HEINEKEN achieve net zero emissions in scope 1 and 2 by 2030.
The company’s strategy focuses on reducing energy demand at production and logistics sites while transitioning to renewable energy sources. This initiative builds on HEINEKEN’s prior collaboration with Siemens, which identified substantial energy savings at its breweries.
HEINEKEN will work with Arcadis through four project phases, starting with sites in countries where Arcadis is well-established, such as the UK and France. Arcadis will develop a roadmap to identify immediate opportunities, including solar panel installations and replacing gas boilers with heat pumps. The second phase will involve the engineering necessary for implementation, followed by a third phase where Arcadis collaborates with Honeywell for a comprehensive decarbonisation approach, concluding with a two-year monitoring phase to evaluate outcomes.
Magne Setnes, Chief Supply Chain Officer of HEINEKEN said, “Our partners bring us expertise in their field, knowledge of the best available technology solutions and an outside-in view of the problems we are trying to solve – skills that are paramount to helping HEINEKEN achieve our ambition. Reaching Net Zero in Scope 1 & 2 by 2030 cannot be accomplished in isolation. Collaboration with experts like Arcadis, Siemens, NIRAS and Royal HaskoningDHV is essential to reach this milestone at the speed and scale we need.”
Hans Dekker, Chief Delivery Officer at Arcadis said, “Our approach prioritizes scalability by leveraging the expertise of a core team to lead overall roadmap development and engineering, while our local teams work closely with HEINEKEN to implement solutions on the ground. Our strategy to accelerate a planet-positive future perfectly aligns with HEINEKEN’s mission to brew a better world. Long-term sustainability and continuous improvement are critical when it comes to achieving these goals, and the cyclical approach we are taking with this programme is key when it comes to evaluating the impact of interventions and ensuring a smooth transition to net zero across multiple sites worldwide.”
The Integrated Net Zero Production programme aims to address the 88% of HEINEKEN’s scope 1 and 2 emissions resulting from beverage production. The programme has already included over 40 HEINEKEN sites, with plans to expand by 2025.
In 2023, HEINEKEN became the first global brewer to have its net zero and FLAG (Forest, Land, and Agriculture) targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).