Dive Brief:
- Nestle USA has announced plans for a $7 million project aimed at reducing water consumption at several of its plants and facilities in drought-stricken California, which will be finished by the end of 2016.
- The company estimates annual savings of about 63 million gallons of water, which is equal to about 71% of absolute withdrawals in 2014.
- Nestle is using the Water Target Setting technology already being employed at over 80 other facilities worldwide. This technology has reduced anywhere from 10% to 30% of water consumption depending on the facility.
Dive Insight:
This isn't Nestle's first move toward water conservation. Last year, the company transformed a dairy plant in Mexico into its first "zero water" facility, wherein all of the water needed to operate the plant is extracted from the milk used to make dairy products. Nestle is planning the same for its dairy plant in Modesto, CA. Also, whereas an average gallon of bottled water takes about 1.5 gallons of water to create, Nestle only uses 1.3 gallons of water to make a single gallon of bottled water.
These moves have been prompted by the California drought, which has hit farmers, businesses, and consumers hard.
Nestle came under fire in California last month for its water bottling operations, which it plans to expand throughout the U.S. This water reduction plan may be in part a solution Californians can appreciate.