HEINEKEN IRELAND STEPS UP TO THE MARK AS IRELAND’S FIRST DRINKS COMPANY TO SECURE THE BUSINESS WORKING RESPONSIBLY MARK

HEINEKEN Ireland is the first drinks company in Ireland to achieve the Business Working Responsibly mark from Business in the Community in recognition of its responsible and sustainable business practices.

The Mark, developed by Business in the Community Ireland, and audited by the NSAI, is based on ISO 26000 and is the only independently audited standard for CSR and Sustainability in Ireland.

Welcoming this important independent recognition, Maarten Schuurman, Managing Director of HEINEKEN Ireland:

“We’re extremely proud to have achieved the Business Working Responsibly mark. It’s wonderful to see the emphasis we place on sustainability and responsibility across all aspects of our business recognised and benchmarked independently.  The mark serves as a clear signal to our stakeholders and our customers and consumers that we are listening; that we know sustainability matters to them as much as it does to us; and that we are working every day to make HEINEKEN Ireland a truly green brewer.  This is an important milestone on our journey and inspires us all to redouble our sustainability efforts as we move in to 2019.”

HEINEKEN Ireland’s achievement of the Mark comes towards the end of a landmark year in sustainability for the company; a year in which the company was also shortlisted for two Chambers Ireland CSR awards.

In its most recent sustainability report, HEINEKEN Ireland made a number of major environmental announcements including:

• Achieving zero-waste-to-landfill, meaning all waste produced by the company was deemed recoverable and recyclable.
• Achieving its target of a 20% CO2 reduction within its distribution network three years ahead of its 2020 schedule.
• Continued investment in the local community spending over €100m annually in the Irish economy and working with 1,000 Irish suppliers and service providers.
• A commitment to charitable causes involving a donation of €450,000 to 50 local causes as part of its ‘Growing with our Communities’ initiative.
• HEINEKEN Ireland has continued its market leading commitment to responsible consumption developing the growing low and no alcohol market in Ireland with the launch of its innovative non-alcoholic beer Heineken® 0.0 and its 3% beer Heineken® Light.
• Committing to Business in the Community Ireland’s Low Carbon Pledge

Tomás Sercovich, CEO of Business in the Community Ireland, said:

“HEINEKEN Ireland’s exemplary work in sustainability and CSR represents exactly the kind of attitude towards community engagement we want to highlight with the Business Working Responsibly mark. They are deserving recipients of the Mark and, with all they have planned for 2019, will be wonderful ambassadors for it too.”