By Marco Ugarte Irizarri
Q: What's your company's definition of sustainability, and why is it important to you?
Sustainability at MillerCoors means: Making a positive and meaningful impact on the social, environmental and economic issues that affect our business, employees, and other stakeholders.Sustainability within and outside of our value chain is important as thriving businesses require thriving communities. This involves a healthy community, environment, and marketplace.
Q: What are the most important sustainability issues your company deals with?
In consultation with internal and external stakeholders we have consistently found that our most material aspects are Water Stewardship and Alcohol Responsibility.
Q: Sustainable thinking is no longer just a "nice to have", it's increasingly seen as a competitive advantage. Tell us how sustainable thinking is helping move your company forward?
Certainly, sustainability evolved from an “order-winner” to an “order-qualifier” and business imperative over time. While MillerCoors has Sustainability Goals towards 2020, we are working with our parent company Molson Coors in developing our 2025 Global Sustainability Ambitions. Sustainability delivers bottom line results in basic operational attributes such as water, energy, carbon, and waste management. Moreover, there is an increasing appetite for sustainable products in the marketplace.
Q: Rock the Green, the Sustainability Festival, is all about going for zero waste. How has your company reduced waste across your operations? Has it paid off for you financially?
As of 2016, all our seven major breweries across the US were Landfill-free. MillerCoors took the extra step of independently certify them by partnering with NSF International, all of them are independently certified at landfill-free level. When a single facility goes from putting out 15+ tons of waste on a monthly basis to landfill to virtually zero, the multiplying effect of all our Brewing System is able to deliver financial savings in the order of millions of dollars.
Q: Surveys show that employees are happier and more productive when they're engaged with a company's sustainability strategies. How do you engage your staff to implement your sustainability plans?
From the very beginning all new team members receive an introduction on Sustainability during their onboarding experience. Constant communications on our 2020 domestic goals and upcoming 2025 Global goals play a critical role. In 2016, our survey indicated the following:
96.74% strongly agree that valuing the environment is a top priority for MillerCoors.
85.97% strongly agree that MillerCoors has a reputation for being dedicated to the environment.
95.85% strongly agree that it is important to me to work for a company which actively promotes sustainability practices.
Q: In a nutshell, how will you be "rocking the green" in the coming 5 years?
MillerCoors will rock the green over the next 5 years by unleashing its potential through the network of strategic partnerships to magnify the impact of our current programs in water stewardship and alcohol responsibility. From working with our barley growers to deploying effective and responsible marketing strategies able to resonate with our consumers; and by expanding several programs outside of the US through our parent company Molson Coors.
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