Fonterra has pledged to reduce water use at six of its New Zealand manufacturing sites by 30% by 2030 as part of moves to accelerate sustainability.
The six facilities are Maungatoroto, Lichfield, Brightwater, Darfield, Edendale and Clandeboye. It is estimated that the move will save more than 3.4 billion litres of water each year.
Meanwhile, all sites across Fonterra’s entire manufacturing footprint will take steps to keep water use to 2018 baselines.
“Water is a precious resource and we can’t take it for granted. For some parts of New Zealand, water isn’t always in the right place at the right time, and our water use in these regions can put stress on local water sources and the communities that rely on them,” said Fonterra chief operating officer global operations Robert Spurway.
“Reducing our water use at our manufacturing sites is the right thing to do for the environment and for the communities we operate in. That’s why we’ve set this new target, which will save billions of litres of water.”
He added: “We’ve focused on the six sites where major water savings can have the greatest impact. This means we can target efforts and investment into those regions most in need.”
The targets are the latest in a series of sustainability commitments the dairy cooperative has made. In July, it pledged to make all its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. The company is also targeting zero solid waste to landfill by 2025.
Last year, Fonterra announced the construction of a new plant at its Darfield site to reduce the amount of groundwater extracted at the facility by 70%.
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