4 days Ago
The NEWBrew cans have been a surprise hit with people in Baku, alongside other eco-innovations. Small blue beverage cans sit conspicuously on a counter at the Singapore display inside the sprawling pavilion section of the UN climate talks. At COP29, they are vying for attention in the space where countries, non-profits and tech companies use big, flashy signs to draw in the thousands of people passing through.
Those who approach learn that the cans are - a brand called NEWBrew - and free for anybody who asks. But there is something not everybody who cracks one open finds out right away, if at all: the beer is made with . “I didn’t know.
I was really surprised,” said Ignace Urchil Lokouako Mbouamboua, an international relations student from Congo, who recently sipped one while taking a break from the conference. “I can even suggest that they make more and more of this kind of beer,” added Mbouamboua with a smile, sharing it was his third day in a row he stopped for a can. NEWBrew is made in with NEWater, the name of treated wastewater that's part of a national campaign to conserve every drop in one of the world’s most water-starved places.
The drink, which some attendees jokingly call “sewage beer,” is one of many examples of climate- and environment-related innovations on display during this year's climate talks in Azerbaijan. Highlighting the use of treated wastewater underscores one of the world's most pressing problems as climate change accelerates: providing to a growing population. For years, Singapore has been a leader in water management and innovations.
The city-state island of 6 million people in Southeast Asia, one of the most densely populated countries, has no natural water sources. In addition to water imports from Malaysia, the other pillars of its national strategy are catchment, and recycling. Authorities have said they need to ramp up all water sources, as demand is expected to double by 2065.
While drinking treated wastewater is a novelty for many at the climate conference, for Singaporeans it's nothing new. National campaigns - from water conservation pleas to showing the wastewater recycling process - go back decades. In 2002, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was famously photographed drinking a bottle of NEWater after a tennis match, done to normalise its use.
Ong Tze-Ch’in, chief executive of the Public Utilities Board, Singapore's national water agency, said NEWBrew was developed by a local brewery in 2018. The idea was to showcase treated wastewater at the country's biennial International Water Week. The beer was next produced in 2022, 2023, then again this year.
“It's part of the acceptance of the use of recycled water, which in general is a difficult topic," said Ong. “We did many things to drive it.” “I chose this flavour,” said Ong, adding that he was part of the group that worked with the brewery for this year's version, a “modern pilsner.
” “You know, beer is always very subjective,” he added with a laugh. After attending a panel on water management at the Singapore pavilion, Peter Rummel, director of infrastructure policy advancement at Bentley Systems, stepped up to the counter and got a beer. Rummel told onlookers he was in a good position to judge , as he hailed from Munich, Germany, home to the Oktoberfest beer festival.
“It’s fresh, light, cool. It has a nice flavour,” said Rummel, while looking at the can. Wee-Tuck Tan, managing director of the local brewery, The Brewerkz Group, said they have made about 5,000 litres, or roughly 15,000 cans, for each edition of NewBrew.
He said they use the same process as with other beers, and the cost is also similar, about 7 Singaporean dollars (around €5) per can when bought in a supermarket. Wee-Tuck said he believes the beer has shifted how some in Singapore view NEWater. “They think it tastes funny," he said.
“When put into a beer, it changes the mindset. Most people can't tell the difference.” As problems with grow, there is increasing embrace of the use of treated wastewater, said Saroj Kumar Jha, the World Bank Group's global water department director, who participated in the water management panel in the Singapore pavilion.
Travelling to over 50 countries in the last two years, he said leaders have frequently told him it's important not to use the term “wastewater,” and instead call it “used water.” After the panel concluded, Jha and the other panellists opened NEWBrews and toasted. “It's really good,” said Jha.
“It's the fourth time I've had it.” “This year," he added with a laugh. “Not today.
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