Brewer AB INBev has introduced a new lightweight bottle for Beck’s and Beck’s Blue in the UK with the aim of cutting material use and carbon emissions.

The 275ml bottles are 20g – or nearly 11% – lighter than before. The company estimates the changes will impact over 130 million bottles in 2013, saving a total of 2,642 tonnes of glass – the equivalent of over 200 double-decker buses.

The new lighter bottle will mean 1,940 tonnes of CO2 are removed from the manufacturing process in 2013, equivalent to the CO2 released by around 380 UK households each year.

Inge Plochaet, President, AB InBev UK & Ireland, said: “At AB InBev UK we work closely with our partners in the industry to reduce the impact of our operations on the environment. It’s why our flagship brand Stella Artois was the UK’s first alcohol brand to sign up to the Courtauld Commitment in 2010 and why all of our UK brands are now signatories to Phase 2 of the Commitment. The lighter Beck’s bottles will make a tangible contribution to this effort and represent another significant step towards realizing our ambition to become the Best Beer Company in a Better World.”

The packaging innovation is part of the company’s commitment to improving its environmental performance around the world. In 2009, the company announced a set of ambitious three-year global environmental goals to reduce water, energy use and carbon emissions and increase recycling and re-use rates. The targets, to be met by the end of 2012, are:

  • Reduce water usage to an industry-leading 3.5 hectolitres of water for each hectolitre of production.

  • A 10% reduction in energy use per hectolitre of production.

  • A 10% reduction in CO2 emissions per hectolitre of production.

  • A 99% recycling rate.

The company has already achieved some of these targets – reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 11.5% and improving its recycling rate to more than 99% – and it is well on its way to meeting the others. AB InBev will announce its achievements against these goals in first quarter 2013.