Nestlé, the world’s largest food company has opened its most water efficient factory in the world in Mexico, in a move that the company plans to replicate in other Nestlé factories globally.
Through new processes that deliver significant efficiencies, Nestlé’s Cero Agua dairy factory (pictured) in the central, water-stressed state of Jalisco will move towards being a zero-water factory, the company reported on its website.
‘Fragile resource’
The factory will use mostly recycled water from its dairy operations. The water resource savings are equivalent to the volume needed per day to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool, or enough water to meet the average daily consumption of 6,400 people in Mexico.
"In Mexico, and around the world, water is a vital and fragile resource,” said Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke in a statement. “Due to the relevance of water in the production of food and its role in the preservation of life, Nestlé worldwide will continue to pursue initiatives that contribute to the maintenance and access to natural resources," Bulcke added.
Reusing water
The Cero Agua dairy factory takes fresh cow’s milk, normally around 88 per cent water, and heats it at low pressure to remove some of its water content. The resulting steam is then condensed and treated and used to clean the evaporating machines themselves. Once the machines have been flushed out, the water is then collected once more, purified and recycled a second time. The water can then be reused for watering gardens or cleaning.
The amount of groundwater that the Cero Agua dairy saves each day, around 1.6 million litres, will amount to roughly 15 per cent of the total water used by Nestlé in Mexico each year in its factories, operations and offices, the company said.
Such water savings are part of Nestlé efforts to promote the “conservation, treatment, recycling and water efficiency in our operations and among farmers, suppliers and other partners in our supply chain,” said Marcelo Melchior, who heads Nestlé Mexico.
According to its website, Nestlé reduced total water withdrawal in absolute terms by almost one-third globally over the past 10 years, while increasing production; water use per tonne of product has fallen by half. Worldwide, Nestlé aims to further reduce its water withdrawal per tonne of product by 40 per cent by 2015, compared to 2005.
© 2014 – European Supermarket Magazine
