Putting water efficiency on the menu
February 1st 2008 At the Food Environmental Efficiency Day hosted by Envirowise delegates heard
about a new partnership between Envirowise and the Food and Drink Federation
(FDF) set-up to make substantial improvements in water efficiency
his February more than 150
food, drink and hospitality
businesses from across the
UK attended a national event
highlighting the business benefits of
improving environmental
performance. Hosted by sustainable
business experts Envirowise, the
Food Environmental Efficiency Day
(FEED) included presentations from
industry experts, as well as hands-on
workshops designed to educate
firms on how to implement resource
efficient practices.
Delegates heard about a new
partnership between Envirowise and
the Food and Drink Federation (FDF)
set-up to make substantial
improvements in water efficiency
and help members achieve their
own water reduction goals.With the
food and drink sector using an
estimated 690 mega litres of water
every day, this industry has the
ability to exert a huge influence over
the use of this valuable resource.
The partnership called the
'Federation House Commitment' will
be central to achieving industry-wide
targets of reducing water use in the
food & drink industry by 20% by 2020.1
Companies,working with
Envirowise, will review their current
water use and develop site specific
action plans to significantly cut water
use and costs within six months of
signing up to the commitment.They
will report annually on water and cost
savings made on site and Envirowise
will offer signatories a package of
support measures to help them.
On launch day in January 2008,
twenty one big name food and
drink manufacturers had already
signed up to the Commitment
including Coca-Cola Enterprises,
Kellogg UK, Britvic plc,Mars
Snackfood UK and Kraft.
Fiona Dawson, managing director
of Mars Snackfood UK and chair of
the FDF's Sustainability and
Competitiveness Steering Group,"At
Mars we view water as a precious
resource and have been working
hard to reduce our usage, in fact we
used 40% less in 2007 than we did in
2006. We are delighted to be
signing The Federation House
Commitment and are looking
forward to working with Envirowise
and FDF members to move the
whole industry forward."
Jacob Tompkins, director of
Waterwise an independent
organisation which champions water
efficiency - says:"The Federation
House Commitment is a fantastic
development.The combination of
FDF's knowledge and influence in
the food and drink sector, the
commitment of its members, and the
expertise of Envirowise, will translate
into big water savings. The
agreement makes excellent business
sense and is great for the
environment. We hope that other
business sectors will follow the food
and drink sector's lead."
Clare Campbell, Envirowise food
and drink sector specialist, said:"In
2008, businesses across the UK will
be looking for new ways to formalise
their environmental credentials as
the case against the inefficient use of
resources builds.Water as we know is
a high value commodity and can
often be used more efficiently by
implementing some relatively simple
measures and management tools.
"We look forward to working with
the FDF and a wide range of companies
as part of the Federation House
Commitment and hope it will provide
valuable leadership to the industry as
a whole. It is fantastic that during our
second FEED event,so many companies
from across the country were able to
gain some practical insight not just
on water efficiency, but a range of
topics including packaging design
and energy efficiency."
Businesses that did not attend
FEED 2008 can now access event
materials and downloads from
www.envirowise.gov.uk/feed
1.Defra's Food Industry
Sustainability Strategy (FISS) aims to
reduce water use, outside of that
embedded in products themselves,
by 20% by 2020, compared to 2007.
www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/fiss/index.htm More articles from Envirowise: | 
