UK food and drink firms make 'Olympian' water savings

A group of UK food and drink manufacturers have cut their operational water use by 14.4 per cent in four years, according to a study.

A progress report by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) suggests the savings, covering the amount of water saved between 2007 and 2011, equate to almost six million cubic metres of water - enough to fill 2,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The data comes from manufacturers who are part of the Federation House Commitment, which aims to help reduce overall water usage across the food and drink industry by 20 per cent by 2020.

Signatories to the agreement, which is managed by WRAP and the Food & Drink Federation, have also increased, with an additional 18 organisations having signed up since April 2011, taking the total to 70 active signatories across 278 sites.

Dr Liz Goodwin, Wrap chief executive, said: "These findings are evidence that signatories to the Federation House Commitment are taking actions that are having a positive impact on water use. These results are helping to make a considerable contribution towards meeting the whole industry target of 20 per cent by 2020.

"The decrease in water use is particularly pleasing given that production at these sites increased by 10.7 per cent over the same reporting period."