Following screening and evaluation by Carlsberg’s Integrated Supply Chain, the Fredericia brewery was selected as a test site for its first “Total Water Recycling Plant”. On Monday morning, Carlsberg celebrated a topping-out ceremony on the location of the water recycling plant.

“Our focus has always been on optimizing resource management and water consumption reduction at the brewery in Fredericia has been an integral part of this drive. The new water recycling technology that we are implementing in the brewery allows us to recycle almost 90% of all process water and thus reduce our water consumption by 50% in Fredericia. Fredericia can, therefore, become an important learning platform for all our breweries, and that makes everyone involved in the project very proud,” says Arjun Bhowmik, VP, Production, Western Europe, Carlsberg Group.

The water recycling plant is intended to reduce the average water consumption at the brewery from the already low current level of 2.9 hl of water/hl of beer to 1.4 hl of water/hl of beer. The new plant is also estimated to reduce the brewery's energy consumption by 10% through its own biogas production and hot water recycling. This will further contribute to the realization of Carlsberg's sustainability program, Together Towards ZERO, which consists of four ambitions:  ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking and a ZERO accidents culture. Each of these is underpinned by individual measurable targets to be achieved by 2022 or 2030.

The state-of-the-art total water recycling plant is a partnership project initiated through the public-private partnership DRIP (the Danish partnership for Resource and water-efficient Industrial food Production). Peter Haahr Nielsen, Managing Director, Carlsberg Denmark, hosted the topping-out ceremony together with several of the partners, involving Danish veterinary, environmental, and food authorities as well as universities and technology suppliers, ensuring that the plant meets the high Danish foods and environmental standards.

In attendance was also Flemming Nør-Pedersen, Director, Danish Agriculture & Food Council, who is one of the partners in DRIP.

“Partnerships will be crucial in realizing the Danish Agriculture & Food Council’s vision of a climate-neutral food industry in 2050, and we can draw inspiration from the DRIP partnership. It is inspiring to see one of the four ambitions of Carlsberg’s sustainability program realized here in Fredericia. Denmark has thus gained strong competences in water technology and process equipment for the food industry, and it is a skill that other countries are interested in acquiring,” says Flemming Nør-Pedersen.

The Minister for Higher Education and Science Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen was originally scheduled to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony of the building on March 13, but the event was canceled, and the minister was pleased to be present at the topping-out ceremony instead. She said, among other things, that the new plant could help promote access to, and sustainable management of, water and sanitation for everyone, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6.

“Our ambition in the government is clear: We want to make Denmark a green and sustainable pioneer country, and one of the things that means a lot to me is how we make more green research work in society. Here in Fredericia, you have done it. Across business, government, and researchers. With the new plant, you are well on your way to creating the first brewery in the world that eliminates water waste, and I am happy to see how far you have come,” says Minister for Higher Education and Science Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen.