WeActForWater – Danone launches new sustainability program
Food producer Danone has announced ambitious measures and targets for its water brands. The company does not limit itself to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, but also focuses on social commitment.
Danone’s new sustainability program is called “WeActForWater” and unites the company’s water brands, including Evian, Volvic, Aqua and Bonafont, in a campaign for sustainable packaging, climate neutrality, protection of water catchment areas and access to clean drinking water. The company has formulated five goals for this, which are to be implemented in stages, with the first measures starting this year. “Water is our most valuable resource and the healthiest drink on the entire planet. We want to make its benefits available to all people around the world in the most responsible way possible, and thus preserve natural resources for future generations. We must act today to address the greatest challenges,” says Danone’s Executive Vice-President Waters, Henri Bruxelles.
Recycled PET already from 2020
For example, the food producer has set itself the goal of halving the amount of new plastic used for the water brand bottles. In their production, 50 percent recycled PET is to be used worldwide by 2025, in Europe even 100 percent. , some countries are already making the switch as early as 2020 – all packaging for Volvic products in Germany, all small Evian and Volvic bottles in France and Evian-on-the-go packaging in the UK will in future be made from 100 percent recycled PET. In addition, the company is striving to make the bottles fully recyclable. They are currently only 88 percent recyclable.
CO2-neutral by 2025
Things should now also move faster in terms of climate neutrality. By 2025, all Danone water brands are to be climate-neutral. Evian and Volvic are leading the way in this respect, and this year already they are to achieve complete CO2 neutrality by reducing emissions over the entire life cycle of the products and investing in appropriate climate-friendly projects. Volvic is also starting with the social part of the sustainability program. Starting this year, for every litre of simple Volvic water sold, a sum will be paid into a fund that is to collect around 50 million US dollars by 2030 to provide needy people in Asia, Africa and South America with access to clean drinking water. The promise here is: Help to provide access to one liter of clean drinking water for every liter of Volvic water sold. The fund is being created in cooperation with the fund manager Incofin Investment Management.
Comprehensive water protection
Nature conservation is the fourth pillar of the new initiative for sustainability. Here, in 2020, the water brands are to increase their involvement in the 70 watershed protection projects in which they are active. In cooperation with a network of hydrologists and local users, locally developed, nature-based solutions are to be used to secure the water supply for future generations.
As a fifth goal, Danone aims to have all its water brands certified by B Corporation. B Corporation is a global non-profit organization that issues certificates to companies that meet certain social and environmental sustainability criteria. Five of Danone’s water brands are already B Corp certified.
