HEINEKEN Malaysia has been committed to creating long-term sustainable value for its stakeholders, guided by its purpose – ‘To Brew the Joy of True Togetherness to Inspire a Better World’ by adopting its Brew a Better World 2030 (BaBW) global sustainability strategy, where every aspect of the business plays an important role in contributing to a resilient and shared future for the people and planet.
The BaBW strategy consists of three pillars, putting the brewer on the path to achieving net zero impact on the environment (Environmental Sustainability); contributing towards an inclusive, fair and equitable company and world (Social Sustainability); and promoting moderation and responsible consumption (Responsible Consumption).
HEINEKEN Malaysia Managing Director Roland Bala said the strategy raises the bar across the core pillars of environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and responsible consumption. “We are committed to our 2030 ambition by having a robust roadmap and clear initiatives to reach our goals. Over the years, we have taken significant steps to strengthen our sustainability practices. Whilst this is a courageous ambition, we are pleased to say that we are making great progress towards our sustainability commitments.”
Environmental Sustainability
The brewer has committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions in production by 2030, and across the value chain by 2040. In 2022, HEINEKEN Malaysia succeeded in reducing absolute CO2 reduction by 49% as compared with its 2018 baseline, as well as reducing its Scope 1 and 2 reductions by 10% and 85% respectively.
The brewer also pledged to maximise circularity through its commitment to zero waste to landfill and to turn waste into value by closing material loops throughout the value chain.
This has been successfully accomplished whereby HEINEKEN Malaysia achieved zero waste to landfill since 2017 and has been developing new circularity strategies and targets since.
As water is a key ingredient of beer, the brewer also worked towards healthy watersheds, by committing to fully balance its water through water stewardship projects, reduce water usage, as well as treat its wastewater. Last year, HEINEKEN Malaysia made positive progress and achieved an impressive 203% water balanced; reduced average water usage by 20% compared with its 2014 baseline, in addition to treating 100% of its wastewater beyond the standards of the Department of Environment.
Social Sustainability
HEINEKEN Malaysia embraces inclusion and diversity. The brewer is dedicated to gender balance with 40% women across senior management by 2030, and aims to train 100% people managers in inclusive leadership. As of 2022, the brewer has made significant progress with 63% of women in the management team, while 80% of HEINEKEN Malaysia’s people managers attended inclusive practices workshops. 14% of people managers also completed the e-learning inclusive leadership training.
The brewer is committed to providing a fair and inclusive workplace with fair wages, equal pay, and leadership capacity to drive zero fatal accidents and injuries, as well as ensuring third-party employees to have a safe, healthy and decent work environment. As a result, the brewer has successfully completed 100% of its wages assessment and ensured zero fatalities in 2022, with 94% of people managers completing the HEINEKEN Life Saving Commitments training that outlines operational do’s and don’ts, especially for high-risk activities across the company.
Beyond the brewery, it also looks outward to make a positive impact in the local communities. In 2022, the brewer held various community engagements including the Tiger Sin Chew Chinese Education Charity Concert, the HEINEKEN Cares community food aid programme, and the English Enrichment Training Programme.
Responsible Consumption
HEINEKEN Malaysia is committed to building a responsible consumption culture. The brewer believes that there is always a choice and that its products should be enjoyed responsibly and in moderation.
Hence, HEINEKEN Malaysia led the effort in engaging and educating its customers on responsible consumption and provides consumers with zero-alcohol and dealcoholized options such as the Heineken® 0.0 as an alternative to promote moderate alcohol consumption and a more balanced lifestyle.
The brewer is also committed to providing clear and transparent information about its products. In addition to the information available on both its brand and corporate websites, the brewer updated its labels in 2022 with a changeover planned for 2023.
Through strategic partnerships, the brewer also aims to address the harmful use of alcohol and alcohol-related harm. Last year, HENEKEN Malaysia launched a partnership with Grab Malaysia and offered up to 10,000 Grab promo codes to promote responsible drinking. The brewer encouraged customers to leverage e-hailing when attending and returning from the brewer’s brand events.
What’s more, HEINEKEN Malaysia is looking to make moderation cool, as the brewer committed 10% of its Heineken® media spend on responsible consumption campaigns. As a result, the brewer went beyond its target and invested 11% of its Heineken® media spend on responsible consumption initiatives.
Last year, the brewer launched the When Your Drive, Never Drink campaign to advocate against harmful consumption and behaviours by encouraging consumers, business partners, and employees to take a stand against drink-driving. 3,000 consumers who took the pledge were rewarded with Grab e-hailing vouchers while 100 industry players also took a stand and committed to being HEINEKEN Malaysia’s responsible partner and ‘Enjoy Responsibly’ ambassador.
Recognitions
As a result of HEINEKEN Malaysia’s Brew a Better World commitments, the brewer was applauded through several awards in environmental and social sustainability. In 2022, HEINEKEN Malaysia was recognised at the United Nations Global Compact Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB) Sustainability Performance Awards 2022 in two categories, including the SDG Ambition Benchmark 2 for its water stewardship initiatives and SDG Benchmark 3 on its zero waste to landfill commitments.
The brewer also bagged the Company of the Year awards at the Sustainability and CSR Malaysia Awards for its Environmental and Social Initiatives for the fifth time, as well as the Long-Standing Excellence in Sustainability Award in 2022.
Furthermore, HEINEKEN Malaysia’s dedication to fostering an environment that values diversity in culture, gender, physical abilities and other minority groups was recognised as the brewer won the Gold Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion last year at the HR Excellence Awards 2022.
Earlier this year, HEINEKEN Malaysia was also recognised at the MDBC Innovation and Sustainability Awards 2023, acknowledged in the Outstanding Dutch Investor in Malaysia (MNC) category for its positive strides towards the aspirations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as its ability to showcase their sustainability efforts and best practices throughout their value chain and through community outreach programmes.
Looking Ahead
Corporate Affairs & Legal Director, Renuka Indrarajah said: “At HEINEKEN Malaysia, we want to inspire a better world through our ongoing sustainability efforts, as we continue to integrate sustainability in every level of our business and across the value chain. We believe that to see meaningful progress, businesses need to explore new innovations, partnerships, and solutions to accelerate sustainability towards reaching bold targets and work to influence others in their supply chain to do the same.”
