World Water Day 2025
World Water Day is a UN-led annual event that celebrates and champions the vital role of water and the importance of protecting this precious natural resource.
Why does water matter to Givaudan?
As a business, we consume around 223 million m3 of water in our value chain. The vast majority – in fact 97% – of this water use can be accounted for by consumption in the supply chain and is primarily linked to the agricultural irrigation of the natural raw materials we source. In our operations, we withdraw approximately 11.2 million m3 of water annually.
This means that the availability and quality of water is vital to our sourcing because it has an impact on the quality and the availability of specific raw materials. Addressing this issue within our supply chains is therefore a top priority. On-site direct water use and energy accounts for an additional 2% of our consumption, while the final 1% is linked to logistics and packaging.
What are we doing to address it?
We’ve set targets across our operations and our supply chain to address our water impacts and we’re already making great progress towards these; from improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (also known as WASH) in vulnerable communities where we source and operate, to improving water efficiency on our sites. For example, by the end of 2024, we’d already met and exceeded our target to improve water efficiency by a 25% water withdrawal rate reduction on sites facing water stress by 2030.
You can see more about the targets we’ve set and our approach in our Sustainability in Seven Minutes video interview on water and you can read the latest progress in our 2024 Integrated Report on economic and ESG progress.
How are Givaudan colleagues contributing to our progress and impact?
At multiple Givaudan sites worldwide, we are reducing water consumption through initiatives like reusing water and monitoring usage. These efforts reinforce our long-standing commitment to water stewardship and support the targets we are working towards.
A great example of these initiatives in practice is the work of our teams in Sant Celoni, Spain, where, for the past three years, the team has implemented a series of projects to reduce water consumption. This continuous effort resulted in a reduction of 50,000 m3 of water in 2024 (vs 2021).
One project that is helping contribute to the site’s water impacts, aims to reuse the water coming from the reverse osmosis (filtration system) that produces purified water for the site.
The local team analysed the water that exits from this process as a purified stream and found that it could safely be recirculated and reused in their industrial water systems, allowing them to save 6,500 m3 of water per year.
Another project targeted the site’s biggest consumer of water, a distillation process involving liquid ring water pumps that creates the vacuum conditions. The site’s team has now programmed an automated system that allows for water recirculation, saving 5,000 m3 of water per year.
Read more about local site initiatives here.