On the day of its launch, more than 20 of the UK's leading food and drink manufacturers signed the Federation House Commitment, a pledge to improve water efficiency and thereby reduce water use.
Developed by Envirowise and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), the Commitment has the potential to save 140 million litres of water per day - equivalent to 56 Olympic-size swimming pools - and around £60m per year on water bills for the food and drink sector.
The initial signatories were: apetito; Birds Eye Iglo; Britvic; Cadbury Schweppes; Coca-Cola Enterprises; GlaxoSmithKline; Kellogg Marketing & Sales Co; Kraft Foods UK; Mars Snackfood; Müller Dairy (UK); Nestlé UK; PepsiCo UK; Premier Foods; Tate & Lyle; UIN Foods; Unilever UK; Uniq; United Biscuits; Warburtons; Weetabix; and Young's Seafood.
The initial signatories generate a combined annual turnover of over £15 billion. However, the Federation House Commitment isn't just for large companies or members of the FDF. It is open to all food and drink manufacturing companies. After all, every company is likely to be able to reduce water consumption while maintaining hygiene and product quality.
Working with Envirowise, companies 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 to Envirowise on water and cost savings made on site and Envirowise will offer signatories a package of support measures to help them.
The Commitment will help FDF members to achieve their water reduction goals, as set out in the Federation's recently launched Five-fold Environmental Ambition. It will also be central to achieving the industry-wide target in the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy to reduce water use, outside of that embedded in products themselves, by 20% by 2020 compared to 2007.
Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming and Animal Health, said: "I am very pleased to support this joint FDF and Envirowise initiative which has resulted in the first voluntary framework under which food & drink companies can work systematically towards improving efficiency and reducing water use wherever possible."
Jacob Tompkins, Director of Waterwise, said: "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. We hope that other business sectors will follow the food and drink sector's lead."
Companies interested in signing up to the Federation House Commitment can visit their website for more information.
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