Budweiser China is stepping up green efforts in packaging with its Chinese suppliers and partners, aiming to achieve more sustainable development in China and contribute to the realization of nation's dual carbon goals, said its executives.

Budweiser APAC, a subsidiary of Belgium-headquartered AB InBev, the world's biggest brewer by production volume, recently announced that it has achieved its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 25 percent across the entire value chain in China by the end of last year, two years ahead of schedule.

Jan Clysner, vice-president of sustainability and procurement at Budweiser APAC, highlighted the critical role of packaging.

"If you look at carbon emissions, packaging is very important in this whole entire value chain," said Clysner, who summarized the company's efforts in green packaging in several sectors including lightweight, circular packaging, innovation and supplier alliance.

Clysner explained that the company has been actively working with can, bottle and corrugated box manufactures to make the packaging lighter and more recyclable. Also, the company has been reaching out to startups, entrepreneurs, and even schools and universities to generate new ideas in greener packaging, which will be implemented in its breweries and among its suppliers.

"We have a very intense cooperation with our suppliers," said Clysner, noting that the company keeps engaging its suppliers and partners by sharing knowledge and best practices to continuously drive the reduction of carbon emissions and sustainable growth in China.

"By 2023, Budweiser China has worked with 40 suppliers and 90 factories to help them develop factory-specific carbon reduction roadmaps," Yao Weizhou, procurement director at Budweiser APAC.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of AB InBev's presence in China. With China already committing to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, the company is eyeing higher goals in a green future.

"The Chinese market is very important for us because it is the biggest beer market. We have been present here for 40 years — in China, for China. We do fully support the dual carbon goal that China has. We also have an ambition to go to net zero by 2040, and that is exactly what we are focusing on right now," Clysner added.