In its Global Responsibility Report for 2007, JohnsonDiversey, a provider of professional cleaning and hygiene products and systems, says its Aquacheck water management program helped its food and beverage customers save more than a billion gallons of water in 2007.
The company also assisted a bottling plant in a drought-stricken area of the U.S. reduce its water use by 30 percent in 2007. The plant went from using approximately 2.5 gallons of water to produce one gallon of beverage to using 1.7 gallons of water per gallon of beverage, the report says.
In the report, the company also discusses the effects of JohnsonDiversey’s auto-dose Clax PlusBright system — a low-temperature laundry system used by laundry operations — that can reduce energy consumption by nearly 65 percent and water use by 30 percent. Last year, the company says, its European customers saved 35.5 million KWHs of energy using the system.
The company’s environmental initiatives also include its 550-000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Racine, Wis., which became the largest in the U.S. to earn LEED Gold certification for an existing building. The building’s features include solar reflective roofing, water-free urinals, responsive lighting and electric fork trucks.
More bottling companies are making adjustments to accommodate water’s ever-important importance. Coke’s largest production facility, located in Western Australia, built a $1 million underground rainwater harvesting system after that country experienced its worst drought in 100 years.