Phnom Penh, 14 March 2024 – A glass bottle return program fronted by local F&B and hospitality businesses in Cambodia is wrapping up its first year with a new milestone. Since its February 2023 pilot, around two thousand bars and restaurants have now joined the program. They will return glass bottles from HEINEKEN Cambodia’s beer brands (Heineken®, Tiger, ABC, and Anchor) that are consumed in their outlets by consumers. 

The program aims to promote circularity and reduce waste for the industry. Upon gaining ground in the capital city, the program’s next phase of expansion aims to recruit more bars and restaurants across the Kingdom.

The glass bottle return program’s vision and commitment was first shared at the annual Green Business Forum by the Green Business Committee of EuroCham Cambodia on 9 June 2023. In the presence of the Royal Government of Cambodia’s high representatives, industry leaders, businesses, initiators, and policymakers, the forum also recognized 14 Cambodian businesses for their role in championing the bottle return program.

Anne Guerineau, General Manager of hospitality group Pancam, one of the early adopters of the glass bottle return program, said, “Our Le Moon, one of the city’s first rooftop bars, has been overlooking the heart of the city and Mekong rivers since 2010. We take pride in offering scenic views: not only of the capital’s heritage, but also of its greener future. To play our part, we’ve put in place these eco-conscious initiatives as first steps: a recycling program to divert glass waste from landfills, composting food waste and recycling used cooking oil for biofuel, replacing single-use plastics with paper-based packaging, to name a few. Supporting this glass bottle return movement is a natural move to further embed circularity in our operations, and to empower our frontline service staff to take action for Cambodia’s environment.”

Korngvong Lee, Owner of Temple Group, another early adopter of the program, added, “The Temple brand arose from our passion in Khmer entrepreneurship and the love we have for our community, creating F&B and entertainment offerings to bring people together that showcases the best of Khmer hospitality and culture to international visitors. To do this for the long run, we believe in embracing more sustainable practices, from supporting local to maintaining a greener environment to creatively upcycling furniture for décor. We’re proud to now also do our part to return our glass bottles for Cambodia’s environment!” 

Initiated by HEINEKEN Cambodia, the glass bottle return program strongly supports the brewer’s ‘Brew A Better Cambodia’ ambition, which sets clear and ambitious targets for boosting circularity and decarbonizing not only its production by 2030, but also its entire value chain by 2040. Working with the F&B and hospitality industry is also an intentional step, as it holds most of the brewer’s glass bottle volume in the market.  

“It is not enough to reduce our environmental impact within our own gates; we take seriously our responsibility to minimize waste and maximize efficient use of resources from barley to bar. Adopting circular practices is key, which can be seen in how we brew our beer currently. In partnership with Berkeley Energy Commercial Industrial Solutions (BECIS), our biomass plant in Phnom Penh uses rice husks from local millers and farmers to generate renewable thermal energy for our brewery. Spent grains left over after brewing our beer are also used as animal feed,” said Helen Heng, Sustainability Manager of HEINEKEN Cambodia. “We are also looking at circularity for our packaging, an important factor in our full value chain’s footprint. Addressing glass bottles is only the first chapter of a much longer and challenging journey towards greater circularity in packaging. Our focus now is on rallying partners to co-shape an ecosystem that can support this at scale. We can’t do this alone.”

Andy Hewson, Managing Director of HEINEKEN Cambodia, added, “Brewing the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world, that’s what drives us at HEINEKEN Cambodia. We know that to live up to our purpose, we also need others from our value chain to be part of the journey. Seeing our bars and restaurants champion returnability gets us excited, as they are important culture shapers that can make simple sustainable actions cool for consumers. We hope their actions will inspire more in the industry to join the movement and make it bigger.”

Industry observers note increasing awareness of broader environmental footprint and a growing trend of individuals and businesses taking actions. 

“A bottle returned is an experience extended, a story continued. It’s wonderful to witness bars and restaurants embedding sustainability into the very core of the customer experience, creating an environment of conscious enjoyment,” said Alvin Sinclair, Managing Director of Top 30 Bars, a regional platform for recognizing Asia’s top bars and bartending talents, which launched its first Cambodia edition in 2023. “The bottle return movement joins many other steps the wider industry is increasingly adopting, including banning single-use plastics and recycling. With more people and businesses taking action to reduce waste and promote circularity, this circle of responsibility forms a statement of how much this generation cares for every resource our beautiful land offers us. Kudos to the trendsetters in our industry for steering us towards a more sustainable future.”

About HEINEKEN Cambodia

HEINEKEN Cambodia is one of the leading brewers in the Kingdom, established in the country in 1994. Driven by its purpose to brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world, the company creates great experiences for consumers and customers with a portfolio of high-quality local and international brands, including Heineken®, Tiger, ABC, Anchor and Gold Crown. With its national footprint and state-of-the-art brewery in Phnom Penh, the company employs about 700 people and supports 120,000* indirect jobs across its value chain. Committed to the sustainable development of Cambodia, HEINEKEN Cambodia aims to ‘’Brew a Better Cambodia’’ with a focus on the environment, social sustainability and responsible consumption on a path to a net zero, fairer and healthier world. HEINEKEN Cambodia is part of the HEINEKEN Company, the world’s most international brewer.

*Source: 2022 internal sales, 2020 Steward Economic Impact Study – 19’ data, gov’t data