Measuring our water footprint
Water: a resource under pressure
Water is a resource that is increasingly under pressure from growing population, agricultural and industrial demands worldwide. This scarce resource is also subject to increasingly uneven distribution. ACE members are committed to the preservation and sustainable management of this precious resource, which is vital in the manufacturing of the raw materials used in beverage cartons. In this context, science-based indicators are needed to determine business sustainability, and understanding of the impacts of water use in manufacturing beverage.
ACE’s pilot on water footprint
For this reason ACE launched a pilot study in collaboration with WWF, CEPI and the Water Footprint Network to better understand the concept of water footprint, and to identify the potential impacts of water use at a mill producing liquid packaging board.
Completed in September 2011, this pilot study measured the water footprint of liquid packaging board at Stora Enso’s Skoghall paperboard mill on the shore of Lake Vänern, Sweden. Applying current methodology to the product lifecycle (cradle to gate), the report estimates the blue, green and grey water footprint of liquid packaging board. It further estimates the impact of its water footprint based on the Water Stress Index.
Summary of the Water Stress Index weighted water footprint of Liquid Packaging Board expressed as m3 water/ton board.
Methodology: work in progress
The pilot study has significantly increased understanding of water footprinting for fibre based materials. The report raises important questions for the application of water footprint as an indicator for the forestry product industry. Applying current methodology raised questions for discussion in seven key areas, for example the need to acknowledge possible regional differences in forestry, changes in green water evapotranspiration induced by land use change and data availability to enable water footprint calculations.
Impact assessment methodologies are developing quickly within the water footprint community and ACE believes that this pilot study will contribute to the discussion with the LCA community and to improving the international water footprint methodology for forest based industries.
ACE members support the further development of internationally recognised ISO standards on water footprint to ensure harmonized global rules, and to advance the development of the water footprint alongside other indicators in a complete life-cycle approach.