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Social, societal and environmental responsibility
5.2 Information concerning Danone's social, societal and environmental performance in compliance with the Grenelle II law
DANONE
REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2015
185
Sustainable use of resources
Water consumption and water supply based on
local constraints
Total water withdrawn from the surrounding area and
protection of springs
Of the 71,365,000 m
3
of water withdrawn in 2015, Danone uses:
•
27,519,000 m
3
of water in the composition of its finished products,
primarily at its bottling sites (compared to 25,826,000m
3
in 2014);
•
43,811,000 m
3
of water for the production process (compared to
43,469,000 m
3
in 2014).
Danone's water consumption increased by 3.0% in 2015 relative to
2014, of which 6.6% consisted of increase of water used in product
composition and 1.0% resulted from increase of water used in the
production process.
On a like-for-like basis (see
Methodology Note
), Danone's total water
consumption decreased by 1.4% in 2015 relative to 2014. This change
was mainly due to a 2.8% improvement in productivity (ratio of total
water consumption to production), which was partly offset by the
impact of production growth, particularly in the Waters Division.
Water consumption at the production sites
Year ended December 31
(in thousands of m
3
)
2014
2015
Well water withdrawn from the surrounding area
(a)
44,634
48,602
Municipal water withdrawn from the surrounding area
(a)
18,978
18,137
River water withdrawn from the surrounding area
(a)
5,683
4,626
Total water withdrawn from the surrounding area
(a)
69,295
71,365
(a) Production Site Environment Scope (see
Methodology Note
).
Moreover, in 2004 Danone developed an internal charter called
“Groundwater Protection Policy” which is available at www.danone.
com in the “Publications” section. This policy aims to ensure the
sustainability of resources and protect and enhance the natural
heritage of the sites. Danone's subsidiaries are committed to ap-
plying this policy through the following actions:
•
know the resource's hydrogeology and the site's natural and
human environment;
•
develop sustainable relationships with local players and con-
tribute to local development;
•
take actions to protect each water resource based on local
conditions;
•
neverwithdrawmore thanwhat the resource cannaturally produce;
•
provide the necessary tools under the responsibility of a des-
ignated manager;
•
periodically verify and assess that policy goals are being met.
These application principles are systematically evaluated for
each spring and give rise to specific action plans. Site evaluation
is conducted via SPRING (
Sustainable Protection and Resources
managING
), an internal water resource management tool that
covers the physical, regulatory and community management of
aquifers (geological formations containing underground water) and
their watershed. In 2013 and 2014, the Ramsar Convention (United
Nations international convention for wetlands protection) and the
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) assessed the
SPRING method with the help of a panel of international experts.
Thanks to this critical review, further progress was made and the
desired consensus level for developing a sustainable and equitable
resource management method was achieved.
Change in water consumption related to the production process
Water linked to the production process, for example cleaning water,
is not part of products composition.
Water consumption intensity linked to the production process de-
creased by 5.4% in 2015 relative to 2014.
On a like-for-like basis, it decreased by 8.6% thanks mainly to pro-
ductivity efforts and production transfers within the Fresh Dairy
Products and Early Life Nutrition Divisions.
Water consumption related to the sites' production process
Year ended December 31
2014
2015
Water consumption related to the production process
(a)
(in thousands of m
3
)
43,469
43,811
Water consumption intensity related to the production process
(a)
(in m
3
/ton of product)
1.36
1.29
(a) Production Site Environment Scope (see
Methodology Note
).