Independently owned Dandenong-based Brick Lane Brewing has announced it has become B Corp Certified, making it one of the few brewing companies in Australia to hold the global standard.
B Corp Certification is a designation made by the US-based not-for-profit B Lab to applicant organisations that can demonstrate high standards of positive social and environmental impact.
Becoming a B Corp is an important milestone in Brick Lane’s strategy to drive leadership in sustainable beer production among independent brewers in Australia, and to make its operations carbon-free by 2025.
The company’s $50 million investment into a state-of-the-art facility in Dandenong was purpose- designed to minimise the environmental footprint in an industry that has traditionally been highly water and energy intensive.
Initiatives undertaken by Brick Lane in recent years, and acknowledged in the B Corp Certification process, include reducing the ratio of water used to beer produced by 40 per cent, using only fully recyclable packaging across all Brick Lane and partner brands, and reducing both the electricity and natural gas consumed per unit of beer produced by more than half since 2019.
Brick Lane also directs spent grain – the largest waste product in brewing – to farmers in the Greater Melbourne area for use as animal feed.
Brick Lane Managing Director, Paul Bowker, said B Corp Certification validated the sustainability path Brick Lane had pursued since producing its first can of beer in 2018.
“Sustainability is no longer a negotiable for any organisation that wants to be taken seriously and, from day one, Brick Lane has benchmarked itself against the highest standards of environmental and social impact,” Mr Bowker said.
“Becoming a B Corp shows we are on the right track.
“Embedding sustainability throughout brewing operations is a journey of continuous improvement and our ambitions go above and beyond the rigorous requirements of B Corp Certification.
“Ultimately we’re working toward eliminating carbon emissions entirely from beer production by 2025 and by doing so, leading the way for other independent brewers.”
Mr Bowker acknowledged the team at Brick Lane and credited their ingenuity for the Certification, but said it was all part of a larger process.
“We’re now focused squarely on eliminating carbon emissions from our operations and the electricity we consume to achieve ‘true zero’ brewing,“ he said.
“Among other things, that will be supported by significant investment in renewable energy to drive production.”
This year, Brick Lane commenced installation of a 375kW solar project at the Dandenong site, the largest of any independent brewer in Australia. The system will supply 27 per cent of Brick Lane’s energy requirements and save 374 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions – the equivalent of 81 cars off the road.
By the end of 2023, Brick Lane expects to be using 100 per cent renewable electricity, to have reduced fugitive CO2 emissions by 50 per cent and to be certified carbon neutral.
To become a B Corp, applicant organisations must exceed benchmarks for social and environmental performance, make a legal commitment to changing their governance structure to be accountable to a wide range of stakeholders, and agree to report publicly on their ongoing performance against B Corp benchmarks.
Brick Lane has recently launched a warehouse and logistics business in a new 5000 square metre facility allowing it to store and deliver beers direct from its site to customers and consumers, creating a vertically integrated brewing production, distribution, wholesale and hospitality business.
The investment in direct trucking of finished beer will eliminate an estimated 880 truck movements per year from Brick Lane’s supply chain.
