Federation House Commitment - Progress Report: 2009
Progress to date
The main aim of the FHC is to contribute to an
industry-wide 20% reduction in water use by 2020
against a 2007 baseline. Production levels are taken
into consideration by reporting water use per tonne
of product, to reflect improved water efficiency
accurately, independent of changes in manufacturing
volumes.
To maintain individual company data confidentiality,
water usage data is aggregated and reported on a
collective basis. The data discussed below include sites
that have provided data for both 2007 and 2008 to
show the progress that has been made during the first
year of the FHC.
Total water used (excluding that embedded in products)
per tonne of product sees a decrease of 1.4%. This
baseline accounts for variability in production rates.
|
Total water used*
(m3/tonne product) |
| 2007 |
2.09 |
| 2008 |
2.06 |
The current dataset also shows that overall water use
(excluding that embedded in products) has reduced by
1.7% since 2007, equating to more than 476 thousand
cubic metres of water saved during 2008.
|
Total water used*
(M3) |
| 2007 |
28,029,150 |
| 2008 |
27,553,059 |
These results are encouraging and indicate that the
industry has made a start on the path to meet the
2020 target of 20%. Some of the improvement actions
identified are expected to save large quantities of water
when fully implemented. However, some of these
actions will take time to implement, since they are likely
to require changes to processing and greater capital
investment.
It should be recognised that all the sites are at different
stages and while some sites have made considerable
improvements resulting in significant savings, others are
still at an early stage. Greater savings can be expected
going forward as more sites reach the implementation
stage and some of the longer term actions start to
provide a return. Similarly, some time is required for
multi-site organisations to replicate their learning from
exemplar sites across others within the company.
It should also be noted that many of the FHC members
have been working to reduce water demand prior to
the baseline year of 2007, and some water efficiencies
will already have been made at some sites. Newer
manufacturing sites also tend to use more efficient
technology, which may limit efficiency opportunities.
Water saving initiatives range from simple, lowcost
solutions through to those that require capital
investment and longer lead in times. As such, some of
the actions being taken forward will not necessarily see
savings in the shorter term.
Assuming all water savings are towns water and
an average cost of £1.05 per cubic metre of water is
applied, savings of around £500,000 in the purchase
of water alone will have been achieved. Further cost
savings can be expected through savings in water
treatment and effluent disposal costs.
All FHC signatories are demonstrating a commitment
to water reduction and are contributing towards
helping the industry achieve its 20% reduction target.
Many member companies have set themselves even
more challenging targets to drive down water use and
achieve their sustainability goals.
Also see:
top
In this report:
More Information
* Excluding that embedded in products
top
Last reviewed: 13 Jul 2009