Food and drink manufacturers reduce water usage by 14%

Posted on 19 Jul 2012 by Chris Flynn

Food and drink manufacturers who signed up to the Federation House Commitment have managed to reduce their water usage by 14.4% on average.

A progress report released today by waste reduction company Wrap has revealed that signatories to the FHC have accomplished a 14.4% reduction in water use.

The FHC is managed by The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and waste reduction company Wrap. It was set up in 2008 to help manufacturers in the food and drink industry improve their water efficiency.

The amount of water saved by signatories between 2007 and 2011 totals 5m cubic metres, enough to fill nearly 2,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Once rolled out across the sector as a whole, the FDF expects the initiative to save 140m litres of water per day.

Upon its launch in 2008, the FHC signed up 21 organisations and this has now extended to 70 signatories who are implementing waste reduction methods across 278 sites.

The reduction in water use comes at a time when production at the 278 sites has increased by 10.7% over the same period.

Andrew Kuyk, director of sustainability and competitiveness at the FDF, said: “These results are very good news, for food manufacturers, for our customers and for the environment. They show that green growth is a reality, as production has increased while water usage has fallen.”