Water in our operations
We are committed to minimising our water footprint through ever greater efficiency in our operations.
Using less water in our operations
Figure 14: Walkers Crisps water use per kg production (2001-07)
Between 2001 and 2007 we reduced the water used to manufacture Walkers Crisps by 42% from 13 lkg of production to 7.6 lkg. At our Leicester factory alone, this amounts to 700 million litres of water saved. During 2007 we reduced the water used to produce all our crisps and snacks by 2.3%, from 6.67 lkg to 6.52 lkg.
This reduction was achieved by a comprehensive analysis of all water usage and improved measurement through the installation of water meters to cover the major usage areas. The Walkers team developed engineering solutions to reduce equipment water use and created sources for recycled water. Training and communication sessions were held for all employees to drive awareness of the need to reduce water use and how they could play a part. Performance was tracked between lines and shifts, with the best performing teams being rewarded and recognised for their efforts.
Projects are underway to capture water extracted from potatoes during slicing and frying, to treat it and reuse it. As a result we will move to zero water intake at all of our Walkers Crisps manufacturing sites within 10 years, starting with our Leicester plant, eliminating the need to bring mains water onto our sites.
Figure 16: PIUK locations and major water users
Where we source our water from is crucial. None of our factories or offices in the UK and Ireland is in a region that the Environment Agency identifies as under "serious water stress". Our total water use across all our operations was 1,564 million litres in 2007.
Figure 15: PIUK total production and total water use (2006-07)
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