KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 3): Heineken Malaysia Bhd recently clinched three awards at the Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) 2019.

In a statement Dec 2, Heineken said that for the second consecutive year, it received the Best Water Management Award, in recognition of the company's outstanding efforts in protecting and managing water resources for production as well as beyond its business operations.

SBA is organised by Global Initiatives Singapore in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Malaysia, recognising businesses with best practices in sustainability.

The brewer said it also received a Special Recognition under two categories, namely Sustainability in the Community and Waste & Material Productivity.

Heineken said the Best Water Management Award commemorates its various initiatives that extend beyond its immediate business operations.

The group said through its corporate social responsibility arm SPARK Foundation, it had established a positive reinforcement of its efforts through its three-year water stewardship agenda.

Heineken said it was also recognised for its commitment in driving water efficiency, for which the company reduced water usage in production by 12.3% since 2014 through water optimisation efforts such as bottle washer nozzle reduction and water recovery from clean-in-place rinse.

Heineken Malaysia managing director Roland Bala said the awards at the SBA 2019 further encourages the conpany to continue its holistic approach in contributing to a cleaner, greener future.

In addition to the Best Water Management Award, Heineken received a Special Recognition for Sustainability in the Community, in recognition of the company's long-standing Tiger Sin Chew Chinese Education Charity Concert (Tiger CECC), which raised over RM355 million in support of Chinese schools across Malaysia over the last 26 years, and the English Enrichment Training Programme (EETP) that has trained more than 580 educators in seven states.

Heineken Malaysia corporate affairs and legal director Renuka Indrarajah said through its SPARK Foundation, Heineken partnered with Global Environment Centre (GEC) to build 13 rainwater harvesting systems for underprivileged communities in Sungai Penchala and Sungai Selangor, that stores up to 4 million litres of water annually, benefitting more than 6,500 people.

"Meanwhile, our focus in East Malaysia is to help increase access to potable water. We are pleased to share that we have launched alternative water supply solutions such as gravity water system and rainwater harvesting system in six rural villages across Sabah, providing more than 5,000 people access to clean water," she said.

At the time of writing, Heineken was traded at RM26.50, valuing it at RM8.01 billion.