Top award for Adnams

SOUTHWOLD brewer Adnams has beaten off competition from more than 350 other companies to secure one of the UK's leading awards for responsible business.

Adnams received the Eco-efficiency Award at the Business in the Community National Awards for Excellence Gala 2008, which was held last night at London's Royal Albert Hall.

The company was honoured for “taking a strategic, comprehensive and innovative approach to reducing resource use and waste”, with its innovations including an eco-efficient distribution centre and brewery and a carbon-neutral beer brand.

Erdogan Pekenc, managing director of award sponsor Lafarge Cement UK, who chaired the judging panel, said: “A toast to Adnams for providing a model of how to do business in a resource-constrained world and improving the environmental impact of its entire value chain.”

Now in their 11th year, the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence reward companies across the UK with a coveted “Big Tick” award for the positive impact of responsible business activities in the marketplace, workplace, environment or community.

Adnams received a “Big Tick” in the regional round of the awards, which were presented last month, and has now been recognised as a national example of good environmental business practice.

The company has set industry-leading standards for energy efficiency, water usage, effluent control and recycling, through a range of initiatives large and small.

Recent projects have included a multi-million pound investment in new eco-efficient brewing and distribution facilities, the introduction of a new lightweight beer bottle and the development of East Green as the country's first carbon neutral beer brand.

The new distribution centre uses 58pc less gas and 67pc less electricity per square metre compared with the old warehouse while the lightweight bottle reduces glass use by 624 tonnes and CO2 by 425 tonnes a year.