Water and waste

Nearly 800 million people worldwide have no access to basic drinking water facilities. More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe water sources. Clearly, there is every reason for us to use water responsibly. Water is an important resource in dairy production. We are working to improve water efficiency across our production facilities and aim to reduce water consumption by 25 percent between 2018 and 2030. We also seek opportunities to recover value from residual streams generated during our operations.

When we hear the word 'waste,' we often picture bins full of materials we no longer use: cardboard, tins, and plastic. Water, energy and residual materials can also be lost when they are not used efficiently or recovered where possible. Since a large portion of these streams still contains valuable materials, they can often be considered residual streams rather than waste. For example, valuable raw materials can be extracted from the residual water at our production facilities, and cow manure can be used to generate renewable energy. Whey, a by-product of cheese production, can be processed into valuable ingredients for applications such as infant and sports nutrition.

At our production facility in Borculo (the Netherlands), residual water is transported to the Rijn and IJssel water board for treatment. Through a specialised water purification process, a bio-based product called Kaumera is recovered from the water stream. Kaumera can be used in applications such as agriculture and horticulture. As a result, value can be recovered from the residual water stream. The site also uses biogas as an energy source, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 7,000 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per year. Together, these initiatives support our efforts to recover value from residual streams and use resources more efficiently.