In an effort to better understand GHG emissions associated with the beverage industry and to establish a common methodology for estimation, tracking and reporting, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable has released a document entitled Beverage Industry Sector Guidance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting. Developed collaboratively among BIER members, this guidance also aims to ensure beverage company alignment and compliance with The Greenhouse Gas Protocol written by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute.

An update to a previous release from 2011, this enhanced document standardizes calculation steps, provides a directory of data requirements and creates specific rules for boundaries and scope settings. In addition, BIER has also elaborated on the areas where beverage‐specific guidance was needed most: recycling allocation, transportation logistics, maturation of distilled spirits and cooling models. “BIER member companies believe uniformity in data collection, recording and communication is of particular importance to our industry,” says Tod Christenson, BIER Director. “As consumer‐facing organizations, a united approach to GHG reporting will provide our consumers, as well as other third‐party organizations, with a consistent, comparable and transparent source of important environmental information.”

“In this guidance, we have been able to harmonize reporting within each beverage category, including beer, wine, spirits, carbonated soft drinks, juices and bottled water. Moreover, we agreed on how to approach shared issues like production and use of packaging materials. This is a first,” says Paul Bruijn, Environmental Specialist, HEINEKEN Global Supply. “This is a unique tool for beverage companies seeking to report related emissions either at the enterprise or product level. They can use this guidance to better understand the requirements of existing protocols and drive improvement of their overall performance in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.”