This week, Lion Australia officially commissioned its second Reverse Osmosis Water Recycling Plant at its Tooheys brewery in Lidcombe, Sydney. The new $7.2 million plant will be capable of recovering up to 30% of all water used during all cleaning and pre-production processes at the site, saving around 270 million litres per year.
Lion Group CEO Sam Fischer said, “water is one of the biggest inputs to brewing beer and following the success of the Reverse Osmosis Water Recycling Plant at our XXXX brewery in Brisbane, we thought it is only fair to create one for Tooheys drinkers. This Lidcombe Tooheys plant has been three years in the making and will save some 108 Olympic sized swimming pools of water each year - or 5.3 million kegs.”
While the water recycled by the plants is considered to be of very high quality, it is only ever used for non-food surface cleaning and cooling purposes within the brewery, not within the beer itself. Since it was launched in 2009, the XXXX Reverse Osmosis Water Recycling Plant has saved an average of 282 million litres of water per year.
According to Sydney Water’s Head of Customer Contact Dan Peacock, Lion’s two water recycling plants are important examples of industry-led environmental initiatives.
“This project is a pivotal, sustainable step forward, demonstrating how much water can be saved through a committed water conservation program,” he said.
“Non-residential customers, like Tooheys, use about 22% of all drinking water in Sydney… By embracing practices like recycling water, they are demonstrating how large-scale businesses can make a substantial difference in reducing water waste and protecting our resources.”
On top of its benefits to the environment, the plant is expected to reduce the brewery’s water bill by more than $700,000 annually.
“This partnership is just one an example of how businesses can work with Sydney Water to meet environmental goals and conserve water," said Peacock.
"Every drop of water is precious, especially as we face ongoing challenges in water resilience, so we are really pleased to have supported this innovative project.”
The new Lidcombe plant also reflects Lion’s ongoing goal of becoming an brewing industry pioneer in regards to its environmental initiatives. Since 2020, Lion has been certified carbon neutral, and since 2023, has procured 100% renewable electricity for all of its operations.
“While Lion is proud of our position as Australasia’s first large-scale carbon neutral brewer, we are constantly looking at what more we can do to reduce our impact on the environment and do the right thing for the long term,” said Sam Fischer.
“We have an ongoing commitment to sustainability and are focused on investing in practical measures that reduce water consumption, help decarbonise the brewing process and drive the circular economy to reduce waste.”
Lion has already exceeded its 2030 Science Based Target by reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions by over 55% from its 2019 baseline. Since setting the target, Lion has initiated a whole brewery approach to reducing its carbon footprint, considering everything from the ways its power purchase agreements through to providing brewers spent grain to reduce livestock emissions.
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