Water is vital to food production. From irrigation to cleaning, cooling and processing during manufacturing, water is used during all the stages of the process.
In fact, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the food and beverage industry accounts for approximately 70 percent of global freshwater consumption. That startling statistic, coupled with the fact that the United Nations anticipates agricultural production will have to grow 50 percent to meet rising demands in 2050, makes it clear that the entire supply chain — from ingredient suppliers to food processors to packaging manufacturers — needs to do its part to practice sound water stewardship and identify new avenues to minimize consumption of water sources in various regions. This type of action can play a critical role in counteracting the 40% global freshwater deficit projected for 2030 and in helping to protect the ecosystems that are heavily dependent on water and have already experienced rapid destruction.
Since water is used in many steps of the manufacturing and filling processes for the beverage and food cans we make, Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown) prioritizes the preservation of water as the global supply becomes increasingly scarce. This includes taking steps to reduce usage and supporting replenishment projects in areas with high water stress and high operational water consumption. By responsibly managing water, we not only support the long-term protection of the ecosystems where we live and work, but we also make the manufacturing process for what is already a highly sustainable package — beverage and food cans — even more so. A few of the ways we are making this happen include:
Taking action in our facilities
Given the importance of water to our business, customers, suppliers and communities, the Resource Efficiency pillar of our Twentyby30 program focuses on our water stewardship strategy.
Under this strategy, our Crown facilities around the world are helping us reduce water usage in our operations. This includes incorporating proactive and regular maintenance, rainwater harvesting, replacing washer nozzles and installing new shutoff valves, adding new pumps for wastewater treatment, implementing variable frequency drives in cooling towers to reduce energy and water usage and fixing leaks in pipes and washer tanks.
From 2019-2023, even amid an increase in production capacity, we reduced our water withdrawal levels by more than 1,200 megaliters due to a combination of best management practices and capital expenditure projects in our facilities. Examples of this include:
- Optimizing washer settings in multiple plants in the Asia Pacific region, with one plant reducing its annual water usage by an estimated 22%.
- Filtering wastewater treatment effluent for coolant system reuse at one of our U.S. locations, preserving an estimated 7% of water withdrawn annually.
- Implementing changes to reverse osmosis (RO) systems to utilize the rejected water for other uses, such as cleaning processes and facility gardens, across various plants.
- One of our facilities in Mexico replacing its existing cooling tower with an adiabatic cooling system that uses 95% less water and reduces the facility’s overall water consumption by 7%.
Supporting our communities
With our diverse geographic footprint, our teams continue to practice careful water stewardship and identify new avenues to minimize our consumption of water sources in various regions.
Each month, we measure our water withdrawal, consumption and discharge at all individual operating sites. Our water withdrawal is validated through an external third-party verification process. The World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct global water risk mapping function also helps us assess water stress on an annual basis, pinpointing which of our sites are located in water-stressed areas and where we see the highest consumption. These findings guide our prioritization of various replenishment projects, which aim to preserve watersheds for the importance they hold in the community and the environment. Crown also signed the United Nations’ CEO Water Mandate and committed to collective action to replenish 100 watersheds. This work aligns with the Twentyby30 goal to replenish 100% of water consumed from high-stressed watersheds by 2030.
While a few locations release directly into surface water areas, approximately 88% of Crown’s facilities discharge into third-party municipal wastewater treatment systems, and in some cases like in Mexico and Brazil, the quality of the water discharged is superior to the water that is withdrawn. Three percent of sites do not discharge any water.
Here are three additional examples of Crown facilities supporting their communities' water preservation efforts:
- The first major step we took toward watershed replenishment began in Brazil, where we worked with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other partners on a water conservation project called the São Paulo Water Fund. This is part of a three-year initiative where we will be continuing to improve the water security of the Jundiaí Mirim Watershed, a threatened source that provides critical drinking water to more than 10 million people. The effort is estimated to save 100 hectares of forest in the area annually, replenish more than half of the water consumed in our Cabreúva plant by the project completion date and offset 1,310 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
- We have initiated a second water project near our facility in Korinthos, Greece as a joint effort with the Global Water Partnership–Mediterranean. This is structured as a technical intervention that will increase the efficiency of the municipality’s water treatment plant to meet the needs of the area’s water supply and sewerage service operators. By recirculating filter backwash water through the plant’s pre-treatment tank for re-treatment, nearly 7 million gallons of water will be replenished annually rather than wasted. The project will be completed in 2024. It will help to preserve the water basin from which our Korinthos plant sources water and balance the facility’s consumption levels. Ultimately, this will ensure the local community has greater access to safe, clean water.
- Near Ensenada, Mexico, we have established a third replenishment project that will commence in 2024. The project, facilitated in partnership with TNC, is focused on the Colorado River Delta and aims to secure sufficient, sustainable and reliable water sources for people and nature in the area, as well as create water savings that can be allocated for instream flow restoration. Replenishing the region’s watershed is of particular importance, considering the Baja California, Mexico population continues to grow and create stress on local water sources. This project is anticipated to return over 52 million gallons of water to the Baja California region, increasing aquifer replenishment and supporting a sustainable water supply.
It is no surprise that water is essential to communities and industries around the globe. The time to protect this precious resource is now. For food and beverage companies, it is not only vital for production facilities' success, but it is also critical in protecting the communities they operate in. Once brands understand the risks of not implementing better water practices and the immediate tactics available to them, they are more inclined to remain committed to continuous learning and adoption of best practices. These collective actions will help achieve a meaningful impact for generations to come.
Learn more about Crown’s sustainability goals at https://www.crowncork.com/
