The water recycling plant at Fredericia Brewery in Denmark shows that it is possible to dramatically cut the amount of water needed to produce Carlsberg's beer. The plant won the prestigious Global Water Awards as Industrial Project of the Year.

Developed through collaboration with the multi-stakeholder Danish partnership for Resource and water efficient Industrial food Production (DRIP), Carlsberg's Fredericia brewery in Denmark began operating its new state-of-the-art water-recycling plant in 2021. This innovation has radically improved water efficiency.

By recycling 90% of all process water from production, the recycling plant has proven that it is possible to reduce the brewery’s water consumption for beer and soft drinks production to just 1.4 liters per produced liter. In context the global average water consumption for the Carlsberg Group was 2,7 liters per produced liter in 2021. The plant is also reducing the brewery’s energy consumption by 10% thanks to biogas production and recirculation of hot water.

Victor Shevtsov, EVP Integrated Supply Chain, Carlsberg Group, said, “Innovation is in the heart of Carlsberg’s DNA, and we are constantly looking for new ways to brew our beers in a more sustainable way. This award is great recognition for our colleagues who have implemented this world-first technology at our Fredericia brewery. The learnings we take from this will be key to meeting our target to eliminate water waste everywhere we brew, as defined in our sustainability programme Together Towards ZERO.”

Peter Haahr Nielsen, managing director Carlsberg Danmark, says, “We are proud to be at the forefront of the sustainability agenda in Denmark, and we appreciate the recoqnition of our achievement to halve the water consumption at Fredericia brewery and virtually eliminating water waste. This is the result of a strong collaboration through the DRIP-partnership consisting of project lead and advisor Niras, the Technical University of Denmark and technology providers like Grundfos and Pantarein, but also the Danish veterinary, environment and food authorities.”

The learnings from the Water Recycling Plant will support Carlsberg to reach its target to virtually eliminate water waste globally by 2030.

Global Water Awards
Each year, the coveted Global Water Awards are presented at the Global Water Summit, the major business conference for the water industry worldwide.

Established in 2006 by Global Water Intelligence, the awards recognise the most important achievements in the international water industry within several categories, and reward those initiatives in the water, wastewater and desalination sectors that are moving the industry forward through improved operating performance, innovative technology adoption and sustainable financial models.