AIMING to increase both capacity and efficiency, while reducing emissions, the Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced plans to invest £10million in its Tadcaster brewery.
The two-year programme of infrastructure upgrades will increase the brewery’s capacity to produce leading beers including Carling, Coors, Madri Excepcional and Worthington’s, using more advanced, energy-efficient equipment.
The start of this new period of investment comes as the latest project at the Tower Brewery is almost complete – a carbon dioxide recovery facility, which will be operational in early 2024.
Brewery director Stephen Moore explained: “Carbon dioxide is released during the beer fermentation process, but instead of entering the atmosphere, we will soon be able to recover and transfer carbon dioxide within the brewery, before it’s purified and compressed into a liquid for storage.
“From there it will be turned back into gas to be used in the packaging process, where it will be injected into the fermented product, giving our beer its signature fizz. This will make us more self-sufficient and play an important part in reducing our emissions.
“This is a landmark moment in our history, and as we prepare to ramp up production in the months and years ahead, it means we can keep making the nation’s favourite beer brands while reducing our impact on the environment.”
MP for Selby and Ainsty, Kier Mather, recently visited the brewery to see the new CO2 system. Her commented: “Molson Coors is setting a fantastic example in Tadcaster, showing a real willingness to invest for the benefit of its colleagues, the local community and the environment. The new carbon dioxide recovery facility is hugely impressive, and its impact will be even more so.”
In 2021, Molson Coors became the first major UK brewer to switch to 100% renewable electricity. All the electricity used to produce the one billion plus pints that it makes each year in the UK comes from 22 wind turbines at the Tween Bridge wind farm in South Yorkshire, less than 40 miles from the Tadcaster Brewery.
Globally, Molson Coors’ sustainability commitments include reducing carbon emissions across its direct operations by 50% by 2025. Having hit this target four years ahead of schedule, the UK business is aiming to accelerate its pathway to net zero and reach net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions across all UK sites by 2035.
