Water Stewardship
Working towards world-class water stewardship
Promoting the sustainable use and protection of water is a business imperative that BIER is founded on and its members work collectively to share innovative approaches, tools, and methodologies for assessing both the technical and business aspects of water within their operations. To say that water is paramount to the beverage industry would be an understatement. Beverage companies not only rely on water as an essential ingredient in each of their products, but also as a primary source for many of their production processes.
Although the beverage sector has been recognized as being more proactive than others in managing water issues, much remains to be done. Among the many challenges that BIER members are working to bring actionable solutions to include securing high quality, compiling local data for watersheds, increasing consistency in identifying and evaluating water risks and opportunities, and expanding water stewardship efforts beyond the four walls of production facilities and into the supply chain.
We work to understand water usage in all capacities. Below is a selection of our recent projects involving water stewardship:
Water Stewardship Projects
- NEW Context-Based Decision Guide for Water Reuse and Recycling
- Performance in Watershed Context Insights Paper
- World Class Water Stewardship in the Beverage Industry – Defines six leadership principles and their associated qualities that define excellence in water stewardship.
- True Cost of Water Toolkit – Helps you understand the costs associated with water and your business.
- Performance in Watershed Context – Focuses on local watershed protection, local watershed conditions, and what they mean for your company.
- A Practical Perspective on Managing Water-Related Business Risk and Opportunities in the Beverage Sector – Establishes a common framework for leadership in water stewardship and help you categorize and understand water-related risks and opportunities.
Water Stewardship News
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) Issues Results of 2021 Water, Energy, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Benchmarking Study
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) completed its 11th global benchmarking study – a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative research of water, energy, and emissions efficiency in the beverage industry. The findings of the study substantiate the beverage industry’s ongoing efforts to better understand and reduce resource use on a global scale.
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) Releases The Facility Decarbonization Playbook
In response to a world progressively seeking to move towards low carbon economies, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) has published The Facility Decarbonization Playbook.
BIER Project Spotlight: Charco Bendito
Charco Bendito, meaning “Blessed Pool,” is an innovative, first-of-its-kind watershed collaboration addressing shared water challenges in the Municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Jalisco Mexico, a part of the Lerma Santiago watershed in and around Guadalajara, Mexico.
Charco Bendito Collaborative Watershed Project
Promoting the sustainable use and protection of water is a business imperative that BIER is founded on and its members work collectively to share innovative approaches, tools and methodologies for assessing both the technical and business aspects of water within their operations…
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable Releases the Water Circularity Good Practices Guide
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) has made further enhancements and additions to the Beverage Industry Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Sector Guidance (4.1) published in July 2019.
The Beverage Industry Is Advancing Environmental Sustainability, Together
The members of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) have maintained a steady and unwavering focus in 2020 acting as a common voice across the beverage sector, speaking to influence global standards on environmental sustainability aspects, and sharing best practices that raise the bar for the sustainable performance of the industry.
Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) Releases Water Circularity Metrics Tool and Guidance
The Water Circularity Metrics Tool is a scenario-based tool providing a practical methodology for businesses to adopt a common metric for water circularity at a facility and enterprise level.
WBCSD and BIER Will Develop Guidance to Monitor and Measure Water Circularity
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) announce collaboration on creation of water circularity metrics.
BIER Releases Context-Based Decision Guide for Water Reuse and Recycling
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) developed this guide to address the global water challenges of today and tomorrow that require transitioning “beyond reduction” through broader adoption of water reuse and recycling.
Tackling Sustainable Development Goal 6: How Beverage Industry Giants Are Accelerating Water Action Through Collaboration
Sixteen leading companies with a common goal. Learn how some of the beverage industry’s biggest companies are taking action on water security and sanitation.

Promoting the sustainable use and protection of water is a business imperative upon which BIER is founded.
Learn more about how BIER’s workstreams, such as water stewardship, support the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.