Leading drinks producers sign up to water agreement

Three top drinks manufacturers have demonstrated their green credentials by signing the Federation House Commitment (FHC), a pledge to improve their water efficiency. Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola Enterprises and PepsiCo UK have joined 18 food manufacturers in a commitment that aims to save a total of 140 million litres each day, cutting water bills by upwards of £60m.

The FHC has been jointly devised by resource efficiency experts Envirowise and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), and represents a major step in the FDF’s Five-fold Environmental Ambition. As director of sustainability and competitiveness, Carlton Young OBE, explains: “Last October FDF chose to be bold about the environment by targeting priorities where we can make the biggest difference through collective action.  Today’s signing of the Federation House Commitment by many of our largest member companies is an important demonstration of this commitment and their desire to reduce the environmental impacts of our sector through the widespread adoption of water efficiency best practice.  The leadership that they are bringing to bear on this important issue is to be applauded.”

Since it was established by the government in 1994, Envirowise has helped a raft of UK businesses to decrease their environmental impact – and save over £1bn at the same time. Programme director Dr Martin Gibson comments: “The agreement has an important role to play in helping to improve water efficiency in the food and drink industry and to achieving significant savings of a precious resource.  Envirowise worked on the strategic aims of the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy and we look forward to working with industry to help them achieve their water reduction goals.” The organisation is now appealing to other manufacturers to pledge their commitment to this important cause.

Ben Grant, 30/01/08