Bottled water companies are at the forefront of corporate environmental stewardship
The natural bottled water industry is committed to improving its environmental performance through national, industry-wide and bespoke corporate initiatives. Many have introduced environmental management systems, and signed up to various commitments to improve environmental performance. So far, considerable improvements have been achieved. Through such initiatives, significant gains are still to come.
Environmental stewardship can be embodied through any number of initiatives, some being corporate signatories to international conventions, others being site specific programmes to address relatively minor environmental issues. The following gives an overview of bottled water companies' achievements and ongoing programmes.
Environmental management and reporting
The concept of corporate environmental stewardship programmes emerged in the early 1990s, boosted by negotiations in the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992. Within the area of environmental management, the UK’s standard BS7750 was first published in June 1992, followed by the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) scheme in 1995 and the international environmental management standard ISO14001 in 1996. Bottled water companies have embraced these schemes. For example:
Highland Spring’s environmental management system has been ISO14001 accredited since 2001, and in 2003, its production plant became the first UK bottled water plant to receive accreditation under EMAS. Additionally, Highland Spring’s organic catchment area has been maintained as a conservation area for more than two decades, and has been awarded organic status by the Soil Association.
At Danone, most of its global manufacturing facilities have been awarded ISO14001. Additionally, in 1996 the company published its environmental charter, and within two years it had also published its first annual social and environmental responsibility report. It was acknowledged as one of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide through inclusion in Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the Index’s launch year in 1999.
In 1996, the Nestlé Environmental Management Systems (NEMS) was introduced to consolidate all environmental measures taken by the Nestlé Group. NEMS is the vehicle to deliver continuous improvement in Nestlé’s environmental performance across its business activities. NEMS is fully aligned with the ISO14001 standard for environmental management, and the company has a target to certify all its factories to ISO14001 by 2010. The Nestlé Policy on the Environment was first published in 1991, while in 2002 Nestlé issued its first annual sustainability review. Nestlé is also included within the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
Energy management
Bottled water companies have already reduced the carbon footprint of their operations per litre of water produced, and have plans to reduce carbon emissions further. One such initiative is through the British Soft Drinks Association, which aims to achieve a 30% reduction in the sector's CO2 emissions from manufacturing by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. This target is in line with the aims of the UK's Climate Change Bill.
The BSDA is also committed to achieving the food and drink industry target to reduce the external impacts of transport by 20% by 2012 compared to 2002. This will be achieved by integrating environmental efficiency techniques in the sector's own transport operations and working with suppliers and customers to address supply chain impacts. Other specific initiatives include:
In 2007, Nestlé reduced its direct greenhouse gas emissions by 16% compared to ten years ago, and its overall water withdrawal by 28%, while at the same time increasing the total volume of goods produced by 76%.
Danone Waters UK has signed up to the Carbon Trust’s Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050, the standard for assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services, currently being developed in partnership with DEFRA and BSI British Standards. Danone is among firms testing the standard
Highland Spring is the lead participant in the pilot project called the Climate Action plan (CAP). CAP provides a dynamic tool for measuring not only carbon footprint but also other sustainability criteria specific to the industry such as the use of recycled packaging content; efficient use of water; use of renewable energy; carbon reduction; and offsetting.
Many bottled water companies have carbon reduction targets and are promoting their low carbon status. For example, Isklar, a new natural mineral water from Norway, claims it is carbon neutral, using production energy from hydro-electric sources and low carbon sea transportation. Belu Natural Mineral Water introduced a new label for its eponymous ethical bottled water in October 2007 to highlight its carbon neutral status. Bottler Brecon Carreg has committed to sourcing all it energy in 2008 from renewables. In practice, this means its energy needs will be offset with carbon credits from certified projects such as hydro-electric power plants in developing countries.
Water management
At Nestlé Waters, the basis for all water management activities is the “Water Resource Guidelines for Sustainable Management”, which serves as a reference and standard for all managers. Through this and related work, the business achieved a 33% reduction in production water between 2001 to 2005, that is, it reduced the amount of additional water needed to produce 1 litre of bottled water from 1.5 to 1 litres.
In 2004, Danone implemented its Groundwater Resources Protection Policy. The prime principle underlying this Charter is to avoid making excessive demands on the hundred or so Group springs and not to use more water than nature can produce naturally. The water cycle is studied and demands on springs are limited in order to maintain groundwater levels.
The BSDA has committed to reduce waste water volumes in the soft drinks sector in order to contribute to the food and drink industry target to reduce water use by 20% by 2020 compared with 2007. This will be achieved through "water pinch" technology, optimistation of cleaning in place systems, mechanical seal water management, efficient floor washers, rain water harvesting and the use of grey water where appropriate.
In February 2008, 21 members of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), including soft drink companies Britvic, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Nestlé UK Ltd and PepsiCo UK & Ireland, pledged to review their on-site water use and reduce it where possible. Within six months participants will work with consultancy Envirowise to develop site-specific action plans to cut water use and costs from a 2007 baseline. The programme is open to any food and drink manufacturer and will help the sector meet the target set by the government’s food industry sustainability strategy to cut water use, excluding that embedded in products themselves, by 20% by 2020 compared to 2007.
Packaging waste management
Bottled water firms have taken a lead on practical steps to reduce the amount of virgin PET used in water bottles (see “Environmental savings through lightweighting and use of recycled PET”). At a policy level, two example initiatives are:
Danone has signed up to the Courtauld Commitment agreement between the Waste & Resource Action Programme (WRAP) and major retailers and brands. Within this agreement brands and retailers agree to invest in new technologies and packaging solutions so that less rubbish ends up in the bin. As a signatory, Danone commits to continue to work on packaging and packaging waste reduction initiatives.
Meanwhile, the British Soft Drinks Association says members will look at ways to maximise the amount of post-consumer recyclate in soft drinks containers and have agreed to develop a code of practice that aims to improve PET recyclability. The BSDA has set a target to send zero manufacturing waste to landfill from 2015 by ensuring the maximum volume of waste is recycled, with the remainder being used for energy recovery by incineration.
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