USA: Anheuser-Busch offers to shareholders a green alternative to its Annual Report

With the delivery of its 2006 Annual Report, Anheuser-Busch is offering shareholders an opportunity to protect the environment by planting a tree on behalf of each shareholder who elects to receive next year’s Annual Report online rather than a printed version, according to company’s press release, March 12.

Anheuser-Busch’s dedication to protecting the environment dates back more than 100 years,” said John Kaestner, vice president of Consumer Affairs. “Providing this incentive to our shareholders is yet another step we can take to conserve natural resources for future generations.

Through the tree-planting program, Anheuser-Busch and its shareholders will assist a global effort to restore ecosystems that have been damaged by natural and human causes. In addition, trees help clean the air and water, filter polluted runoff, slow global warming and erosion, and provide habitat for wildlife.

The tree-planting incentive is just one of the ways Anheuser-Busch is working to promote environmental stewardship. Anheuser-Busch facilities recycle more than 97 percent of all the waste they generate and the company’s recycling subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation, recycles more than 125 percent of all the cans packaged at the company’s U.S. breweries. In addition to recycling, Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest user of Bio-Energy Recovery Systems (BERS), a method for pre-treating brewery wastewater and capturing the resulting biogas. This renewable fuel provides up to 15 percent of the fuel needs at nine of the 12 U.S. breweries. The company also strives to use natural resources efficiently and over the last five years, has reduced brewery water use by 5 percent and energy use by more than 8 percent.

About Anheuser­Busch

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser­Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.4 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser­Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in China brewer Tsingtao, whose namesake beer brand is the country’s best-selling premium beer. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in FORTUNE Magazine’s 2007 Most Admired U.S. Companies list. Anheuser­Busch is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum cans.

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