AB InBev opens wastewater treatment facility
AB InBev has made more progress towards its sustainable brewing goals by launching a new UK wastewater treatment facility near Preston. Jessica Mason reports.
The wastewater treatment plant was part of £7.8m total investment into expanding Samlesbury Brewery in 2025 and marked AB InBev’s commitment to sustainability at its Budweiser Brewing Group arm in the UK.
Investment
The site has been brewing since 1972 and today employs around 500 people, making it a significant contributor to the North West economy. Plus, the investment follows the brewery seeing a £45 million investment in 2021 in an effort to reinforce its role as a long-term manufacturing hub.
Speaking to the drinks business at AB InBev’s Cheers To Nature event at its Samlesbury site, AB InBev sustainability director Yleni De Neve said: “Our sustainability goals are connected to four topics that matter most to our business, agriculture, climate, packaging and the one that is closest to me, personally: water. This is where the two come together. If there is no water, there is no beer. As a global brewer, we have reduced our water efficiency usage.”
De Neve told db: “Brewery waste water, in essence, has a lot of organic material in it. When you break it down, what happens is that the bacteria eats it away and you create biogas. With this plan, we do three things: we protect something that’s very dear to us, water; we make sure that it works within the framework of the local community as well as to the environmental standards that we operate within as an important player in the region; thirdly, this biogas that is generated then flows back to our brewery. This means that, at the same time, when we were designing this plant, we already looked ahead, because the boilers that we renewed a few years ago, we made sure that they are dual fuel burners, so they can burn on the classic fossil fuel, natural gas, but they can also use biogas.”
Reducing CO2 emissions
De Neve pointed out that the facility was efficient too and said: “We re-inject the biogas back into our system. By doing that, we’re actually reducing gas consumption, fossil gas consumption in our brewery. With that, we’re actually reducing CO2 emissions by 5-8% depending on how much water we’re treating.”
The move marked the company striding forwards towards its global 2025 sustainability goals, which included significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and brewing with 100% operational renewable electricity in the UK.
The new state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility has been built by Global Water & Energy and is in alignment with Samlesbury’s local water service company, United Utilities, to pre-treat wastewater before discharging it through biological processes.
The facility was officially opened by Minister Dearden MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state and Ribble Valley MP, Maya Ellis, with deputy mayor, councillor Caleb Tomlinson also in attendance.
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Water efficiency
Globally, AB InBev has already improved global water use by 22.7% per hectolitre since 2017 and in high stress areas achieved a water use efficiency of 1.95 hl/hl; an improvement of 31.3% since 2017.
As part of the on-site water treatment process, organic material is broken down, which as a result, produces biogas as a by-product. This is reinjected into the brewery’s energy system and used as renewable heat leading to the brewery having reduced gas consumption by somewhere between 5% and 8% as well as also lowering CO₂ (Scope 1) emissions.
Describing the achievement, Minister Dearden pointed out that “the site plays an important role in supporting the pubs and hospitality sector” and noted that “this investment helps strengthen the long-term resilience of an industry that sits at the heart of communities across the UK”.
Renewable energy
Global Water & Energy CEO Uli Ombregt explained that “by turning wastewater into renewable energy, this project shows how industrial water treatment can create real environmental and operational value.”
Alongside progress in water stewardship, BBG has said that it continues to advance its wider sustainability commitments. In the UK specifically and revealed that the company has reduced Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions per hectolitre by more than 44% since 2017, and absolute Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by more than 37% since 2017.
This progress is complemented by brewing with 100% operational renewable electricity in the UK in 2025, and 100% of the company’s products were in packaging that is returnable or made from majority recycled content in 2025.
Long-term commitment
De Neve explained: “Our significant investments in Samlesbury underlines our long-term commitment to brewing great beer locally in a way that continues to protect the natural resources that businesses and communities depend on. Water is the most important ingredient in our beers, and this new wastewater treatment facility will help us further reduce our environmental impact while supporting the resilience of our operations in the North West, and the UK more broadly.”
De Neve added: “As part of AB InBev, we are proud to contribute to global progress in water stewardship and climate action, including significant improvements in efficiency and water savings across our breweries. Building on decades of brewing heritage, this latest investment strengthens the site’s role in the community as a sustainable manufacturing hub and a positive force in the regional economy.”
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