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SUSTAINABILITY

How we care
for people and the environment

Everyone must contribute to reducing the ecological footprint. We do this by efficiently reducing our environmental impact and the use of raw materials and energy. In addition, we also take care for the people.

Water treatment

On our site in Emelgem, we have our own installation that treats wastewater to the quality of surface water. Once the water meets the discharge standard, it may be discharged in the stream directly behind the brewery. The installation purifies up to 1,700 cubic meters of water every week.

Animal feed

We possess the FCA (Feed Chain Alliance) certificate, which means that we can legally distribute spent grains and excess yeast. Dairy farmers ensilage the spent grains or give it directly to the animals. Yeast contains a lot of vitamins and can therefore be used as pig feed.

Recyclable bottles and barrels

We sell our beers worldwide. Therefore it is often difficult to collect all the bottles and barrels. Nevertheless, we succeed in collecting 80% of the glass bottles. The other 20% find its way to the local recycling industry. The return of stainless steel barrels is even higher: 95% of the barrels are delivered back to us and therefore reused.

Social projects

Heat recovery

In the brewing room we recover the vapour from boiling wort in a water tank. This water is evaporated from 75 degrees Celsius to 95 degrees Celsius. A comparable heat exchanger is used to cool down the wort again. The wort cools down to 20 degrees Celsius and releases the remaining 80 degrees Celsius into the water. This water is used for the brewing process. Hot water is therefore not lost and can simply be reused during the brewing process.

Training

Our employees are regularly trained with a focus on the seven welfare domains: occupational safety, health, psychosocial aspects, ergonomics, work hygiene, beautification of workplaces and the environment with regard to work-life balance. In addition, we also organise other training sessions if there is a demand or need for it. In this way we want to create a pleasant and responsible working environment for all our employees.

Canning line

In late 2019, we were the first Belgian specialty brewery to introduce an in-house canning line. Aluminium cans were an obvious choice: they require less transport than traditional beer bottles, they are infinitely recyclable and the beer retains its original taste. The cans are packed in boxes made of FSC-certified cardboard from sustainably managed forests. As such, we are also banning disposable plastic and giving our specialty beers a fully eco-friendly packaging.

Solar energy

On the roof of our Bierkasteel, Eneco Solar's solar panels cover an area of about 5,000 m² - the equivalent of 13 or so baketball pitches. And while the solar panels might not score three-pointers, they do have an annual yield of 350 MWh. By comparison, one household consumes 3.5 MWh a year. With our solar panels, we are taking another important step towards a sustainable future in which green energy plays a key role.

Charging stations

If you drive an electric car, you can charge it at one of the charging stations during your visit to the brewery. We also have charging points for electric bikes. This charging infrastructure is a first step towards a future in which electric driving will become the norm.