Carlsberg Group is inviting companies and members of the public to submit their ideas on how to make Carlsberg beer more sustainable. The competition, “Cheers to Green Ideas,” was launched in partnership with Scandinavian think tank Sustainia on Monday.
Carlsberg is crowdsourcing ideas to improve the environmental impact of beer and inspire positive change in consumer behavior. The idea can apply to any stage of the product life cycle, from production of raw materials to brewing, transportation, packaging, and recycling. The competition highlights three key challenges to consider: how to package beer in an eco-friendly way, how to increase recycling, and how to use less water and energy during production.
“We are experts in brewing great beer, and by engaging professionals and consumers to contribute their own innovative ideas, we can work together to brew beer that is even more sustainable,” said Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, Sustainability Director at Carlsberg.
There are two awards: the Cheers to Green Ideas Award, primarily intended for companies and entrepreneurs; and the JC Jacobsen Special Award, intended for consumers and more fun, engaging, behavioral change-based ideas. The winners will each have a chance to collaborate with Carlsberg experts and partners in the Carlsberg Circular Community and win a cash prize – $20,000 for the Cheers to Green Ideas Award and $10,000 for the JC Jacobsen Special Award.
Ideas are being accepted now through October 16, 2015 at sustainia.me/Carlsberg. The winners will be announced on December 6 in Paris, in connection with the COP21 climate conference.
“Sustainable solutions within different sectors are ready and available today. From the food and beverage sector to fashion and transport, there is a myriad of solutions existing today that we should identify and scale in order to fuel the transition to a sustainable society,” says Laura Storm, CEO of Sustainia. “In Sustainia, we know that the best solutions are found in the nexus of businesses, civil society and policy, and the Cheers to Green Ideas cooperation with Carlsberg is a testament to the power of co-creation.”
Earlier this month, Carlsberg joined AB InBev and Heineken to lead Global Beer Responsibility Day. The three brewers are also members of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), which recently launched a True Cost of Water Toolkit to help facilities more accurately estimate their costs and pursue water stewardship strategies.
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Published Sep 30, 2015 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST