Sustainability

The brewery was set up to help secure the financial future of the farm, but we feel strongly that there is no point doing that if the whole enterprise is not environmentally sustainable as well. We also received great support from our local community when we were setting up the business, and we want to repay that support, as well as sharing our sustainability experience to help others, and learn where we can still improve.

Governance and reporting

We believe that it is important not only to implement a wide range of measures to improve the sustainability of our brewery, but also that these measures are independently audited to ensure that they are ambitious enough and that we are progressing towards them. The main reporting mechanism at Ballykilcavan is through the company’s membership of Origin Green, the Bord Bia sustainability program. Ballykilcavan is one of only 9 craft breweries to be a verified Origin Green member, and in 2022, we were awarded the highest Gold membership level, one of only 59 food and drink companies of all sizes across the entire country.

As an Origin Green member, we are audited annually on progress in 7 different areas: raw material sourcing; packaging; energy; waste; water; biodiversity and community. The auditing is conducted independently by Mabbett, and to pass, we must be scored as satisfactory or exemplary in each area.

One of the wildflower meadows at Ballykilcavan.

Most Recent Results

We will be submitting our 2022 figures for auditing by the end of February, and expect to get the results by May. When the audited 2022 figures are available, we will publish them here. In the meantime, here are the results of our 2021 audit.

Ingredients

• 94.9% of grains are IGAS (Irish Grain Assurance Scheme) certified (1.9% ahead of target). The balance are imported from overseas.
• 64.3% of our speciality malts are made from Irish (Ballykilcavan) barley (4.3% ahead of target)
• 5.4% of our hops are grown in Ireland (at Ballykilcavan) (2.9% ahead of target)
• 31% of our yeast is produced in Ireland (25% ahead of target)

Energy

• 1.849 kWh per hl in package - reduction of 0.4% (1.9% below target)
• 11 kW solar array commissioned in autumn 2021

Water

• 10.59 litres of water per litre of beer in package - reduction of 3% (1% ahead of target)
• Separate soft water tank installed for cleaning plant

Packaging

• Compostable box tape used - 50% (25% ahead of target)
• Oxo-biodegradeable pallet wrap used - 63% (40% ahead of target)
• Multi-use cups used for festivals and events - 100% (on target)

Waste

• 100% of organic byproducts recycled or upcycled (on target)
• 1.93 kg of landfill / recycling per hl of packaged beer: -11.8% compared to 2020 (10.2% ahead of target)

Biodiversity

• 120m² of pollinator garden (300% ahead of target)
• 200m² of wild grass area (on target)
• Maintain wild bee colony in old farmyard
• Barn owl box installed near brewery - 4 chicks born in 2022
• Three red squirrel feeders intalled near brewery.

Community

• €527 sponsorship of local events / teams (76% ahead of target)
• €230 charity donations (42% behind target)
• 7 groups given free access to brewery/farmyards/farm - (40% ahead of target)

11kW solar array on the brewery roof - part of the 50kW system that powers the brewery.

Awards

We are very proud to have won three major sustainability awards in 2022. We feel that there is always more work to be done on our sustainability, but these awards are great recognition of the work we have done so far.

In April, we won the national Small Firms Association sustainability award.

We were then named Best Small to Medium business (companies with up to 200 employees) in the PwC / Sunday Business Post Sustainable Business Awards

In November, we won the the Sustainability and Climate Action award in the Laois Business Awards in November 2022.