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) 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.
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.
How Can the Beverage Industry Enhance Water Reclaim & Reuse?
Water challenges are in full supply, especially when it comes to reclaim and reuse. Here, our members discuss those barriers and how BIER is tackling them.
Addressing Local Water Data Gaps
Water is the lifeblood of the beverage business—and protecting this shared resource is not only the right thing to do for sustainable communities and watershed, but a business imperative. But in order to do that, we need data that provides local context so we can make more informed decisions. And the first step is building solid local connections to coalesce available knowledge and data.
BIER Releases Latest Practical Watershed Context Tool: Performance in Watershed Context Insights Paper
A collaboration of 19 leading beverage companies developed and tested a pragmatic decision support process for enabling more informed water-related investments.
Performance in Watershed Context: Why It Matters and How to Approach It
Discover why performance in watershed context matters and learn about Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable’s work to develop a practical tool.
7 Major Water Stewardship Milestones in the Beverage Industry | BIER Decade in Review
Water is absolutely vital to the beverage industry. Beverage companies not only rely on water as an essential ingredient, but also as a primary resource for growing agricultural ingredients. As a result, protecting this critical resource is a business imperative—not to mention the right thing to do.
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable to Hold Inaugural Latin America Water Forum in Mexico City, Mexico, June 14-15, 2017
BIER will host a regional forum for supply chain stakeholders and industry partners in Latin America, recognizing acute water issues.

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.