Short description and objective of the project:
Background: The production of goods inherently requires resources such as energy or water (Hoekstra and Mekonnen 2012; Liang et al. 2018). Latter is specifically relevant for food products due to the large water consumption and pollution during the production of agricultural goods (Mekonnen and Gerbens-Leenes 2020). This is also relevant for the ingredients used for beer production (SAB Miller Plc and WWF-UK n.d.). Grolsch, one of the large Dutch breweries has committed to sustainability targets and therefore made great efforts to reduce the amount of water they use and pollute in the brewing, bottling and packaging processes at the brewery (Grolsch n.d.). However, they have not yet accounted for the water consumption and pollution upstream (beer ingredients) and downstream (consumption) in the value/supply chain.
Project aim: Determining the water footprint (WF) per litre Grolsch beer produced, accounting for water use and pollution along the entire supply chain.
Proposed method: The WF is an indicator of consumptive and degradative water use and consists of three sub-components: 1) blue WF – the use of ground- and surface water; green WF – use of precipitation water; grey WF – water pollution (Hoekstra et al. 2011). In this assignment the production/supply chain of a beer should be mapped and for each step a WF shall be calculated. While production and supply chain data can be largely sourced from Grolsch, water consumption and pollution accounts for the WF of ingredients should be retrieved from suppliers (where possible) or estimated from literature/generic databases. While green and blue WFs for agricultural ingredients are readily available (Mialyk et al. 2024), the grey WF needs to be calculated, e.g. based on existing (case) studies (Vološinová et al. 2025). Here, choices on most relevant pollutants and production steps can be made to warrant feasibility of the research. For the direct WF of the production process on site, Grolsch can provide data. Data on other relevant steps in the supply chain should be retrieved from alternative sources such as suppliers (Asahi procurement) or LCA databases. For the consumption part, additional information could be gathered through e.g. interviews with local bars or restaurants and available relevant data within Asahi.
After having calculated the complete WF of the Grolsch beer production, local impacts along the supply chain to identify hotspots and potential action areas for increasing sustainability should be assessed.
Expected results: A WF assessment of beer, illustrating where along the supply chain most water is used or polluted and indicating recommendations to reduce/improve. This result should serve managers in the brewing sector as basis to make sustainable future decision.
References (optional):
Grolsch. n.d. “Duurzaamheid.” https://www.grolsch.nl/duurzaamheid-grolsch-brouwerij.html.
Hoekstra, A. Y., and M. M. Mekonnen. 2012. “The Water Footprint of Humanity.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109 (9): 3232–37. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1109936109.
Hoekstra, Arjen Y., Ashok K. Chapagain, Maite M. Aldaya, and Mesfin M. Mekonnen. 2011. The Water Footprint Assessment Manual: Setting Global Standards. Earthscan.
Liang, Sai, Manfred Lenzen, Lixiao Zhang, and Yafei Wang. 2018. “Resource Footprints of Humanity.” Resources, Conservation and Recycling 132 (May): 267–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.01.005.
Mekonnen, Mesfin M., and Winnie Gerbens-Leenes. 2020. “The Water Footprint of Global Food Production.” Water 12 (10): 2696. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12102696.
Mialyk, Oleksandr, Joep F. Schyns, Martijn J. Booij, Han Su, Rick J. Hogeboom, and Markus Berger. 2024. “Water Footprints and Crop Water Use of 175 Individual Crops for 1990–2019 Simulated with a Global Crop Model.” Scientific Data 11 (1): 206. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03051-3.
SAB Miller Plc, and WWF-UK. n.d. “Water Footprinting: Identifying and Addressing the Water Risks in the Value Chain.” https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/sabmiller_water_footprinting_report_final_.pdf.
Vološinová, Dagmar, Libor Ansorge, and Lada Stejskalová. 2025. “Grey Water Footprint of Malting Barley Production.” Vodohospodářské Technicko-Ekonomické Informace 67 (3): 32–38.
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