Kraft Overhauls Its Manufacturing Ops to Cut Water Use by 21 Percent

Published August 11, 2009

NORTHFIELD, Ill. — In less than three years -- and a full two years ahead of its company-wide goal -- snack giant Kraft Foods has managed to save 3 billion gallons of water by adopting new manufacturing and cleaning methods.

As part of its overall sustainability goals, Kraft set a target of reducing its water consumption by 15 percent before 2011, and today the company announced that it has more than surpassed that goal. The 3-billion-gallon savings represents a 21 percent reduction in its global water use.

"We're changing behavior and getting results," Steve Yucknut, Kraft Foods' Vice President of Sustainability said in a statement. "Around the world, thousands of our employees are working on projects that help us reduce our environmental impact. We focus on manufacturing, since that's where we use the most water for internal operations. And we pay particular attention to water-scarce areas, where the need is greatest."

The company offered several examples of water-reduction successes today, including the adoption of a closed-loop system to reuse water for cooling coffee grinders in its Jacksonville, Fla., coffee plant; a water-use audit in its Port Melbourne, Australia, plant that will save 20 million gallons of water per year (a 39 percent reduction); an employee education project in Champaign, Ill., to raise awareness about water conservation; and an overhaul of cleaning processes in a cheese and beverage plant in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain that reduced water use by 33 percent.

Kraft Foods has also adopted water-saving measurs at its headquarters in Northfield, Ill. that uses lakes on the company's campus to capture and reuse rainwater for irrigation and recycles water into ice to cool the buildings during the day.

At the beginning of 2008, Kraft Foods was one of the first companies to sign on to an industry group's water efficiency commitment, which aimed to cut water use amongst signatory companies in the United Kingdom by 20 percent or more.

Among the other green goals set by Kraft Foods include reducing energy use by 25 percnet, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent and reducing waste by 15 percent. More on the company's sustainability targets is online at KraftFoodsBetterWorld.com.

Waterfall photo CC-licensed by Flickr user Stephen K. Willi.

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Kraft Overhauls Its Manufacturing Ops to Cut Water Use by 21 Percent

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Kraft Overhauls Its Manufacturing Ops to Cut Water Use by 21 Percent

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