Tim Brown: Nestlé investing in water-saving technology at bottling plants

At Nestlé, we recognize that water is a complex topic, even in the best of times. In a drought such as this, we understand that people’s questions about who uses water and how are even more urgent.

Our Arrowhead brand has a 120-year history of operations in California, and we welcome this dialogue – and the opportunity to do our part to make a difference.

As complex issues go, there is no silver bullet or single solution to the water challenges we face. But there are technologies and practices that can make a difference – and thousands of improvements that can add up to meaningful savings. One way we are doing that is by bringing technology Nestlé has developed elsewhere in the world to address water scarcity in California.

Last week we announced investments in innovative technologies that will help reduce the amount of water we use across nine California facilities. This is all part of our ongoing top-to-bottom review of our drought contingency plans, in which we are actively seeking new ways to improve our operations to save water.

We have selected Modesto as the site of an innovative project to transform Nestlé USA’s milk factory into a “zero water” factory. When finished, the plant will not use any fresh water at all in its operations. Nestlé pioneered the technology at its first “zero water” plant in Jalisco, Mexico, which extracts all the water it needs to operate from milk used to manufacture dairy products. When improvements are completed at the Modesto plant in 2016, they are projected to save nearly 63 million gallons of water each year.

Additionally, we have identified savings of more than 26 million gallons of water at ice cream factories in Bakersfield and Tulare by reprocessing water that has been used in the manufacturing process.

Throughout California, Nestlé has made significant progress in reducing the amount of water used in our operations since the drought began four years ago. We’ve invested $2.5 million in our California bottled water plants to recover and reuse much of the water used in manufacturing. Conservation measures this year are projected to save 55 million gallons of water per year, a reduction of nearly 8 percent compared to 2014.

Nestlé food factories have reduced water use by 70 million gallons per year through a variety of operational improvements, changes to irrigation practices and implementation of more water-efficient cleaning processes.

Making continued strides in conservation will also include improvements in infrastructure. That’s why, in addition to introducing new technologies, we are also meeting with stakeholders, engaging with environmental groups and listening to elected officials so we can come together and improve conditions in local watersheds.

We agree there is also a need for greater transparency as well as comprehensive and balanced oversight of all water users. The recent California groundwater legislation, which we support, was an acknowledgment that if you want to effectively manage, you need to effectively measure.

Later this summer we will publish more about our water use on our website and will update our progress on our conservation efforts annually.

With more than 7,000 employees across the state, Nestlé is committed to California. We know there is more to do and we will continue to strive for high standards and best practices for all our operations. We will share what we learn about how technology can make a difference with others, playing our part in the efforts to make industry more resilient and more resistant to drought conditions.

We are committed to being a good steward of water resources and to engaging in a thoughtful dialogue – and in meaningful action – to address California’s water challenges.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Tim Brown: Nestlé investing in water-saving technology at bottling plants."