Name: Daniel Hernández Sánchez , Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Manager

Company: Brown-Forman

Welcome to our series aimed at spotlighting BIER projects. As part of our Member and Stakeholder spotlight series featuring the individual leaders within BIER member companies and stakeholder organizations, our project spotlight series highlights BIER member companies and stakeholder organizations involved in the innovative Charco Bendito project.

Discover how practitioners and their companies have collaborated to create and implement an innovative watershed initiative. This first-of-its-kind project focuses on three main goals: improving water accessibility, enhancing water quality, and ensuring water availability. Learn from their key insights and find out what drives them to promote environmental sustainability in the beverage sector and beyond.

Briefly describe your role and responsibilities, how long you have worked with your company and your role/ involvement with the Charco Bendito project.

I have been working for Casa Herradura for 15 years, always in positions related to the environment. I manage and oversee processes for handling vinasses and bagasse, which are characteristic waste products of the tequila industry. The vinasses are treated in a wastewater treatment plant, and the bagasse is composted and used as fuel in the biomass boiler.

My team and I are responsible for regulatory compliance in environmental, health, safety, and sustainability areas.

What were the initial drivers or incentives that committed you to the Charco Bendito project?

I am the representative for Casa Herradura and Brown-Forman on the Charco Bendito project at the Latin America level. I was fortunate to be part of the founding team at one of the companies that helped launch this incredible project.

Brown-Forman has been a long-time participant with BIER for many years. Following several meetings in Latin America, we invited the Red Bioterra and Bardo Communication teams to join us. They presented three collaborative projects focused on basin-level water management. At this point, in 2020, we decided to join Charco Bendito. Charco Bendito is a first-of-its-kind watershed collaboration addressing shared water challenges in the Municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Jalisco Mexico, a part of the Lerma Santiago watershed in and around Guadalajara, Mexico.

Learn more about Daniel Hernández Sánchez in this BIER Member Spotlight.