Speaking at the brewer’s Magor Brewery in Monmouthshire, AB InBev West Europe business unit president Brian Perkins was pulling together a trial of the scheme in the local area.
Insider Media reported that the brewer was working with Welsh Government and a consortium of producers across different beverage products, but the project was still in its early stages.
‘Considerable investment’
Perkins said the full rollout of the scheme would probably lead to the creation of an industry-wide bottle washing and sorting facilities. He also said the project would create jobs and could lead to investments of about £100 million.
However, implementing such a scheme would take between one-and-a-half to two years and would require more partners and government support.
Magor brewery has been host to a number of sustainability improvements over the years. In 2022, Carlsberg Brewing Group UK&I (part of AB InBev) partnered with logistics provider EV Cargo to switch half of the HGV delivery trucks at the Welsh brewery from traditional diesel fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), delivering an immediate 92% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per every kilometre driven compared to diesel.
Sustainable production
The company already brews every single can, bottle and keg in the UK with 100% renewable electricity from its own wind turbine and two solar farms. The brewer has also removed plastic rings from its entire portfolio and has met its goal of brewing with 100% British-grown barley, reducing carbon emissions and championing local agriculture.
Meanwhile, the UK Government announced that it was pushing back the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) till October 2027, two years later than previously agreed date of October 2025.
A revised timeline for the implementation of the DRS included three phases prior to the planned launch, including the requirement for new regulations to be in place, the appointment of Deposit Management Organisations and a roll-out period between spring 2026 and autumn 2027.
