Skol to cut energy costs, increase production

Brasserie Des Mille Collines (BMC) Ltd, brewers of Skol beer plans to trim waste and improve production efficiency to step up its effectiveness through the use of lesser fuel and power consumption. Thomas Weingarten, SKOL’s Managing Director said, last week, that with the current expansion, there is need to be effective in production processes by producing at minimum costs. “We want to reduce as much as possible the waste water and everything we do now is focused on reducing energy consumption which we have so far reduced by 18 percent for the last six months,” he said, during the launch of the first phase of the modern waste water treatment plant. He added that that energy accounts for the largest fraction of the brewing costs, hence narrowing the profit margins and hindering the company’s investment plan. BMC announced that it is installing new equipment to boost its capacity to meet its targeted 25 percent of the premium beer market from the current 16 to 17 per cent market share. Mark Mugarura, its Marketing Manager, is optimistic that such initiatives will step up the brewery’s competitiveness. The planned US$1.5m waste water treatment plant that is remote controlled via internet exceeds the current and future production requirements that will see the brewery step up its production capacity by 50 percent from the current 100,000 hectalitres annually. Weingarten noted; “They clearly demonstrate leadership in employing modern technology to reduce not only organic and inorganic waste, but also reducing their carbon footprint,’ he said, adding that the plantalso indicates BMC’s commitment to safeguarding the environment in which it operates. Geoffrey Kyatuka, environmental expert at Kigali City Council (KCC) told Business Times that BMC’s move to build a waste water plant will assist in ensuring that industrial wastes are not disposed of in drainage channels that would in turn affect the environment and human lives. “We are looking at industries setting up waste water treatment plants as their responsibility to protect their clients who buy their products and the environment they work in.” dias.nyesiga@newtimes.co.rw