From October 19 to 30, 2026, Armenia will host the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17). The conference in Yerevan will focus on joint actions aimed at conserving biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems. Ahead of the conference, Mediamax presents the sustainability and responsibility corporate initiatives of Yerevan Brandy Company, a COP17 participant, which promote the efficient use of natural resources and can serve as examples of best practice. A Closed-Loop Water Circulation System Water scarcity and the growing risk of water depletion have been on the international environmental agenda for decades. Water plays a crucial role at every stage of alcoholic beverage production. In brandy-making, it is indispensable, from raw material processing to bottling. Significant volumes of water are also required for the distillation process. Photo: ARARAT Years ago, specialists at Yerevan Brandy Company began developing and implementing solutions to reduce water consumption in production processes and improve water-use efficiency. One of the key areas of this work was the introduction of a closed-loop water circulation system, which made it possible to return used water to the production cycle, reducing the need for fresh water. What seemed like a revolutionary idea years ago is now recognized as an international best practice and serves as a model for other companies. How Does the System Work? During distillation, the cooling water used to obtain brandy spirit from wine material heats up to 70C at a certain point in the production process. Under conventional operating conditions, this water would normally be discharged after use, but only after its temperature had been reduced to below 20C. This means that the producer would need to use hundreds of additional tonnes of water for the next distillation batch, as well as expend energy to cool the heated water before discharging it. Photo: ARARAT Thanks to the closed-loop water circulation system installed at Yerevan Brandy Company's production facilities, the hot water generated during distillation is redirected to heat the buildings and workspaces at the company's branches. During this process, the water cools naturally. Implementing this initiative not only reduces water consumption but also saves energy, thereby lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The water then undergoes a specialized treatment process, after which it can be reused in production. In a closed-loop system, water is cooled and returned to the production process rather than continually drawing in fresh water. In this way, water becomes not a single-use resource but a component that circulates repeatedly throughout the production cycle. Investment in constructing closed-loop water circulation systems in the distillation facilities at Yerevan Brandy Company's Aygavan and Armavir branches has exceeded 2 million. I believe the question of whether we expect these investments to pay off is rhetorical, says Shushan Khachatryan, Manager of Quality, Safety and Environment at Yerevan Brandy Company. Photo: ARARAT Once, purely out of curiosity, we decided to calculate how long it would take for this investment to pay for itself if we considered the cost of the groundwater used, based on the applicable water tariff. It turned out that the payback period exceeded a thousand years. This is why such initiatives are not evaluated in terms of financial returns. They are about our responsibility toward our environment, our communities and our planet, Shushan Khachatryan emphasizes. Thanks to the closed-loop water circulation system, Yerevan Brandy Company has managed to reduce its water consumption by 70% while also cutting its CO₂ emissions by 40 tonnes annually. Shushan Khachatryan is one of the speakers in the COP17 Green Zone. She will take part in a panel discussion dedicated to Yerevan Brandy Company, scheduled for October 21 at 12:00 p.m. at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan. Admission is free. To register: https://www.cop17yerevangreenzone.com/register-now/public-attendee To be continued.