Newport East

A great pint doesn't have to cost the earth 08 March 2010

A Great Pint Doesn’t have to cost the Earth is the slogan workers from the InBev brewery in Magor put to Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when presenting to him what they had done to cut the carbon footprint at the brewery.  Workers, union representatives and management met with Mr Miliband at the House of Commons, which was organised by Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East, after seeing for herself the great work they were doing at the brewery. Mr Miliband praised the workers at Magor for their successful project to reduce the brewery’s carbon footprint. He praised their ingenuity and commitment in reducing the brewery’s carbon emissions, and how it proved that helping to save the environment could also help businesses to cut costs.  Project JUPITER (Join Us People In Tackling Energy Reduction) has been running at InBev for 2 years and has contributed to a 40% reduction in energy use during that time. The scheme was initiated from the shop floor by Unite union representative, Tony Bates, and supported on a voluntary basis by other workers called Energy Guardians. Over 400 individual suggestions have been given by workers, which has helped to save a significant amount of water, electricity and gas. Jessica Morden said “What is unique about this initiative is that it has been driven by employees, with support from the management. They have implemented small changes which have delivered big results and I believe the UK government can learn a lot from Project JUPITER. I’m very pleased the workers met Ed Miliband. They, and the company, deserve the praise they are getting, and let’s hope what they done can be used as an example for companies across the UK.”  Tony Bates said “We were very pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Mr Miliband and share our story.  This is a true grassroots initiative, led from the shop floor by Unite union members who feel passionately about this project, and supported by management.  I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved at the Magor brewery, and hope that our example will encourage other people to do the same.”