Registration Document - Pernod Ricard

1 Operation
12
PRESENTATION OF THE PERNOD RICARD GROUP
and strategy
Careful monitoring of consumption
This year, total water consumption of Pernod Ricard’s production sites
amounted to 8.5 million m 3 versus 6.7 million m 3 in the last financial
year . This primarily concerns distilleries, which represent 74% of
total consumption. This increase is due to the integration of the V&S
businesses and the enhanced understanding of the volumes of water
actually used. Broken down per litre of distilled alcohol, consumption
stands at 40.1 litres as against 38.4 litres in 2007/2008. The volume
of waste water released into the environment remained stable, at
29 litres per litre of distilled alcohol.
Reducing energy consumption
Over 2008/2009, the total energy consumption of the Group’s
production sites came out at 1,668,747 MWh, with distilleries alone
accounting for 81% of total consumption.
Most of this consumption (62 %) involves natural gas, the preferred
combustible for distilling due to its flexibility, energy output and low
pollution compared with coal or fuel.
In 2008/2009, the Group’s total energy consumption per litre of
pure distilled alcohol stood at 7.84 kWh/l, versus 8.87 kWh/l in
2007/2008, in part stemming from the integration of the ABSOLUT
vodka production facilities. These facilities actually consume little
energy thanks to highly optimised processes. Other Group distilleries
turned in energy performances comparable to that in 2007/2008,
with notable progress made by Chivas Brothers (down 2%) and Irish
Distillers (down 4%).
In 2008, the Group set a target to reduce its water consumption
per unit produced by 10% between now and 2012 and has taken the
following measures to reach it:
In-depth energy site assessments
◆ In Fort Smith, United States, this assessment was used to identify
potential savings representing 2,500 MWh, of which 850 MWh
immediately.
◆ In Midleton, Ireland, short-term gains were made thanks to the
optimisation of the production process and energy management.
◆ In Rowland Flat, Australia, the energy consumption of workshops
is closely monitored in real time via a website.
These energy assessments have been used to secure short-term gains
and devise plans to make improvements in the years to come. They
will be extended to other Group sites in 2009/2010.
Implementing Energy Management Systems
◆ In Sweden, a certified Energy Management System has been
implemented at the Nöbbelov distillery, which guarantees
optimised energy consumption.
◆ A monitoring system using detailed indicators was put in place
in 2008/2009 in the Group’s 10 main distilleries. It tracks and
compares performance and identifies the best practices in order to
put them into general use.
PERNOD RICARD
Implementing projects to reduce energy
consumption
Each site sets its own targets and provides the resources necessary
to meet them:
◆ in
Ireland, the Midleton distillery invested €4 million in a
mechanical steam compression system, for annual savings of
nearly 37,000 MWh;
◆ in
Scotland, a heat recovery system was installed at the Allt à
Bhainne distillery, reducing its energy consumption by 10%;
◆ in
Italy, the Ramazzotti bottling facility was refurbished (optimised
insulation and lighting), resulting in a 25% reduction in energy
consumption.
Reducing the impact of waste
and packaging
Three types of waste are generated in the lifecycle of our products:
◆ environmentally hazardous waste;
◆
organic waste from the conversion of farm raw materials;
◆ solid waste from packaging: glass, paper, cardboard and plastics.
Limiting and controlling hazardous waste
A total of 515 tonnes of hazardous waste, including 30 tonnes
of asbestos waste, was sent to special treatment facilities in
2008/2009.
Preventing organic waste
The transformation of our raw materials produces by-products used
in animal feed (brewer’s grains, syrup concentrates, spent and dried
grains, etc.) or in farming (grape marc compost and bagasse). As
regards liquid effluents, the methanisation process is used to produce
biogas, an entirely renewable source of energy. This process is used at
the sites in Walkerville, Canada, in Behror, India and in Thuir, France.
As a result, only 0.7% of the organic waste ends up in landfills or
incinerators.
Recycling packaging and promoting
ecodesign
In 2008/2009, 78% of the packaging waste from production sites
was recycled. The Group has set itself the target of achieving 85% by
2012.
In China, Pernod Ricard supports glass recycling by financing the
collection of its whisky and cognac bottles. As such, ten million bottles
were recycled by local glass manufacturers in 2009.
In 2008/2009, the rollout of the ecodesign programme continued
with the training of Marketing and Purchasing teams in France,
Mexico and Brazil. Plans for a number of new, more environmentallyfriendly
products have been developed, notably in terms of the lower
weight of glass and cardboard used in packaging. In France, Pernod
I REFERENCE DOCUMENT 2008/2009 I