CSR - Kraft exceeds water reduction goal
Last updated 8/17/2009 1:17:08 PM
CSR - Kraft exceeds water reduction goal
Kraft Foods has announced that it has reached and exceeded its water reduction goal.
Over the past three years, the food company has made efforts to reduce the amount of water used in its manufacturing processes by more than 3 billion gallons – which is enough to fill nearly 5,000 Olympic swimming pools. The reduction represents a 21% reduction since 2005, exceeding the company's goal 2 years early.
Vice President of Sustainability, Steve Yucknut, says ‘We're changing behaviour and getting results. Around the world, thousands of our employees are working on projects that help us reduce our environmental impact.'
AUSTRALIA: The Port Melbourne Plant won a prominent environmental award for identifying opportunities and taking actions to reduce potable water use up to 39 percent (20 million gallons/74 million liters per year). The project will reuse production process water and optimize clean-in-place systems for manufacturing equipment.
BAHRAIN: Cheese and beverage plant reduced water use by 33 percent (5 million gallons/18 million liters per year) by using alternative options to enhance the effectiveness of cleaning without compromising product quality.
GERMANY: Fallingbostel cheese plant reduced water use by 7 percent (18.5 million gallons/70 million liters per year). The plant is now reusing its manufacturing process water -- instead of using the town's water -- to run the plant's cooling towers.
UNITED STATES:
In Florida Jacksonville coffee plant installed a closed-loop system to reuse water to cool coffee grinding equipment instead of using city water, helping it reduce water use by more than 35 percent (nearly 20 million gallons/75 million liters).
Kraft Foods works in 150 countries around the globe, employing 100,000 people, and are responsible for popular brands such as Kraft cheese, Maxwell House coffee, and Oreo cookies. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index. Kraft's water reduction programme is founded on the need to use less water, more efficiently. The programme cites The United Nations estimation that one in six people worldwide don't have ample access to safe water, highlighting the pressing need for water resources need to be better managed across the world.
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