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Asahi Beverages and BaptistCare have taken significant steps towards their sustainability goals by partnering with Flow Power to source and offset energy from New England Solar, the largest solar project in NSW and equal-largest in the National Electricity Market (NEM). These agreements with Flow Power, a fast-growing renewable energy retailer, underscore each organisation’s ongoing commitment to meeting their renewable energy targets.
A new $50 million facility capable of recycling the equivalent of up to one billion 600ml PET plastic beverage bottles a year has commenced operations in Melbourne, coinciding with the start of Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme. The Circular Plastics Australia (PET) plant will convert used beverage bottles, into high-quality food-grade resin, which is then used to make new recycled PET beverage bottles andfood packaging such as meat trays and fruit punnets. The plant will play a key role in recycling PET bottles collected through the Container Deposit Scheme as well as PET plastic packaging from household and office recycling bins.
Asahi Beverages, Australia’s leading beverages company and the owner of Carlton & United Breweries, is now powering the production of their iconic drinks such as Great Northern, Victoria Bitter, Schweppes, Cool Ridge water and Solo with energy supply arrangements linked to sunshine harvested in outback Queensland. Flow Power, one of Australia’s fastest-growing energy retailers, brokered the new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for Asahi Beverages, accelerating them toward their goal of having 100% of their purchased electricity sourced from or matched with renewable sources by 2025.
VicReturn is delighted to have been appointed as Scheme Co-ordinator for the new Victorian container deposit scheme, CDS Vic, announced by the Victorian Government today. VicReturn is a not-for-profit entity with members comprising Lion, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Asahi Beverages, with each having significant experience in managing container deposit schemes across Australia.
High-tech equipment which will be able to recycle the equivalent of around one billion PET plastic beverage bottles a year is being installed at a new $50 million plastic recycling facility in Melbourne’s west. Workers at the 6000m² Circular Plastics Australia (PET) facility in Altona North are installing highly specialised sorting, washing, decontamination and extrusion equipment from Italy and Austria.
The Abbotsford Brewery, Melbourne’s oldest and most well-known brewery, has brewed its 50 millionth beer using the power of the sun. The sustainability milestone was achieved after the 118-year-old brewery installed more than 4000 solar panels. The new system on the rooftops of the Abbotsford Brewery is the largest solar installation on a brewery in Victoria. It directly harnesses the sun to brew some of Australia’s favourite beers including Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, and Pure Blonde.
A new PET plastic recycling facility will be built in Altona North by a cross-industry partnership, with the facility set to be the largest of its kind in Victoria upon completion. Pact Group, Cleanaway, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have formed a joint venture to build and operate the facility, which will drive a significant increase in the state’s PET recycling capacity.
Victoria Bitter has partnered with Dan Murphy's to bring its first-of-a-kind Solar Exchange program to more Aussie households, allowing beer lovers to collect their hard-earned solar slabs in-store. The Solar Exchange program, launched in 2021, enables Aussies to exchange the credit on their power bill from generating excess solar for VB via Diamond Energy.
A $55 million investment in an upgraded manufacturing site outside Ipswich will secure Asahi Beverages as a major manufacturing presence in South-East Queensland for the long-term. It brings Asahi’s investment in the beverages plant to around $100 million in the past five years. The Asahi plant in Wulkuraka will now produce 300 million litres of non-alcoholic beverages each year.
Around 111 million soft drink bottles will now be made with 100% recycled plastic in Australia each year as Asahi Beverages continues its transition to eco-friendly materials. The change will apply to all 450ml and 600ml bottles of soft drinks sold by Asahi Beverages including popular brands Pepsi Max, Solo, Schweppes and Sunkist. The move follows Asahi Beverages’ bottled water brands Cool Ridge Still Water and Frantelle’s, which have been sold in 100% recycled PET for several years. It brings the total number of 100% recycled plastic bottles produced by Asahi Beverages to more than 640 million each year.
