How does Ansell optimize water usage in its manufacturing process to reduce water withdrawals?

SUMMARY

• Where do we get the water used in our manufacturing process and how do we optimize it?
• How do we assess water risks in our manufacturing sites?
• What are our renewed water stewardship commitments?
• How is it consistent with our values?
• What is Reverse Osmosis?

Water is a precious resource in our world in which everything on Earth requires to survive. Under the threat of population growth, increasing demand for water from agriculture and industry, and climate risks, we cannot afford to waste water. This highlights the need to act to protect it and protect our planet. That is why Ansell has fully committed to the efficient and wise use of water.

Where do we get the water used in our manufacturing process and how do we optimize it?

The primary source used is municipal utilities with smaller contributions from groundwater collection and rainwater harvesting. We optimize water consumption through improving efficiency of our processes, water recycling and rainwater harvesting.

How do we assess water risks in our manufacturing sites?

In FY21, we partnered with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to conduct a water risk assessment at our plants. We found that baseline water stress is classified as ‘extremely high’ at Ansell Thailand and ‘high’ at Ansell India, while other plants range from medium to low.

We also found that the highest water-related risks (in addition to basin level water-stress) facing our sites are:

1. Drought risk
2. Riverine flood risk (when a river breaks its banks and floods surrounding land)
3. Untreated connected wastewater risk – defined as the percentage of domestic wastewater that is connected to a water basin through a sewerage system and not treated to at least primary treatment level

This helped us set renewed contextual targets for FY23. In FY23, the plants will develop and implement comprehensive water management strategies and make progress in commissioning Reverse Osmosis (RO) facilities.

What are our renewed water stewardship commitments?

We have set up tiered targets to be reached by FY25 (FY20 baseline), the overall commitment being to reduce water withdrawals by 35% by FY25. We classified our plants into three tiers with corresponding targets for FY25:

• Tier 1: reduce water withdrawals by 50%
• Tier 2: reduce water withdrawals by 25%
• Tier 3: reduce water withdrawals at the plant or in the local community equivalent to 25% water withdrawals

How is it consistent with our values?

At Ansell, we protect people and the planet. Our water stewardship commitments are aligned with three of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely the 6th SDG “Clean Water and Sanitation”, the 12th SDG "Responsible Consumption and Production" and the 13th SDG "Climate Action".

What water stewardship activities do we have planned?

We successfully installed a Reverse Osmosis (RO)* project at our Ansell Textiles Lanka (ATL) plant in Seeduwa, Sri Lanka in FY22 and Thailand in FY21.

We are also member of the Aqueduct Alliance* that we joined in FY21 to explore collaborations and partnerships for shared solutions.

*Aqueduct Alliance: The Aqueduct Alliance brings together leading companies, governments and foundations, to gain strategic guidance and industry insight from the World Resources Institute's (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas team and water stewardship activities.

What is Reverse Osmosis?

*Reverse osmosis is a system of purification of water containing materials in solution by a very fine filtering system that allows only the water molecules to pass. It is a method of purifying and recycling water so it can be used back in operations. Reverse osmosis is a viable option as it restores treated wastewater for reuse within our operations and in turn reducing our water withdrawals.