Asia Brewery, Shell seal power supply deal

Tycoon Lucio Tan’s diversified beverage company Asia Brewery Inc. (ABI) and a unit of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. entered into an accord to power the former’s facilities with clean energy.

Under the deal,  Shell Energy Philippines Inc. will supply 15 megawatts of renewable energy to the beverage firm’s manufacturing facilities in Luzon.

ABI  said the supply agreement strengthens its sustainability thrust as it steps up efforts toward reducing its carbon footprint through the use of more sustainable materials including renewables.

This is among the sustainable ways the beverage firm is implementing, aligned with parent firm LT Group Inc.’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Instead of using newly-made glasses, the beverage maker has resorted to cullet–recycled, broken or waste glass– in producing glass bottles.

In 2018, ABI used 72,000 metric tons of cullet, accounting for 61 percent of the raw materials used.

Lahar, which came from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption that occurred in the 1990s, is another material utilized by the company in manufacturing bottles. About 56 percent of feldspar used in glass manufacturing, equivalent to 3,500 MT, was replaced by lahar in 2018.

“ABI also ensures that nothing is wasted and thrown, even powdered glass wastes, which are utilized in their pavements and walkways within the Cabuyao, Laguna plant premises,” said Asia Brewery in a statement.

Shell Energy, for its part, aims to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. It is also committed to offering cleaner energy solutions to customers to help them lower their emissions.It offers gas, power including renewable power, and a range of environmental products to offset unavoidable emissions from energy use.