Nestlé Waters Factory Becomes First Facility in North America to Achieve Prestigious Water Certification
First bottled water company in North America to meet rigorous standard for water stewardship.
ONTARIO, Calif., July 26, 2017 /3BL Media/ – Nestlé Waters North America announced today that its Ontario, California, factory received certification for meeting the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Created and supported by prominent environmental conservation groups, development organizations, and industry leaders, the AWS Standard is the first comprehensive global benchmark for responsible water stewardship across social, environmental, and economic criteria.
Conformance with the AWS Standard was audited by SCS Global Services, an international third-party certification body.
Nestlé Waters North America is committed to implementing the stewardship Standard at its five water-bottling facilities in California by the end of 2017. California was selected as the first location for AWS certification because of the shared water challenges in the state, including the recent multi-year drought. The AWS Standard covers a wide variety of watershed issues, including the sustainable water balance, water quality, and shared water challenges within the region where a facility is located.
“The AWS Standard is designed to guide water-using sites toward four outcomes: good water governance, sustainable water balance, good water quality, and healthy status of important water-related areas. The conformity of sites implementing the Standard is verified by credible third-party auditors prior to certification,” said Matt Howard, Director for AWS North America. “We are excited about what will be the first of many AWS certificates issued in North America, as more companies adopt collaborative and transparent water use practices. For every facility that meets the core criteria of the Standard, we move a step closer to the goal of global, sustainable freshwater use that is socially, environmentally, and economically responsible.”
“The AWS Standard aligns with our longstanding commitment to sustainable water management and creating shared value in the communities in which we operate,” said Nelson Switzer, Chief Sustainability Officer at Nestlé Waters North America. “We take our responsibility as a water steward seriously, and understand how important it is to have a rigorous standard with which to measure our water resource management practices and sustainability efforts. Achieving and maintaining AWS certification will help us continue leading water stewardship practices through efficiency, water resource management and community engagement.”
Launched in 2009, the Alliance for Water Stewardship is a nongovernmental organization founded by leading organizations representing social and environmental interests, including The Nature Conservancy, Pacific Institute, Water Stewardship Australia, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Since that time, Nestlé Waters has joined dozens of other companies, government agencies, NGOs, and educational institutions as a member of AWS to promote best practices in water stewardship.
Nestlé Waters’ Ontario facility is the first AWS-certified site of any kind in North America. Nestlé Waters is also pursuing implementation and certification of the AWS Standard at several of its other North American facilities.
In addition to committing to implement the AWS Standard in its five California bottled water factories, Nestlé Waters has initiated water conservation measures at facilities throughout the state. The company has introduced technologies to recycle water for cooling and other uses projected to save 67 million gallons of water per year across the five bottling plants in California. Nestlé Waters has also partnered with the Cucamonga Valley Water District in San Bernardino County to construct a groundwater treatment project expected to restore an additional 250 million gallons of available clean drinking water each year to the local water supply.
About Nestlé Waters North America
Nestlé Waters North America employs more than 1,200 Californians, providing rewarding careers and high-quality jobs. The company also spends more than $325 million annually with California-based vendors and businesses. The company supports, through contributions and employee volunteer hours, local organizations such as Inland Empire Waterkeeper, Cucamonga Valley Water District and the Southern California Mountains Foundation. In addition to the Ontario site, Nestlé Waters has plants in Livermore, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Cabazon.
Nestlé Waters North America provides people with an unrivaled portfolio of bottled waters for healthy hydration. Brands such as Arrowhead® Mountain Spring Water, Nestlé® Pure Life®, Perrier® and San Pellegrino® have driven Nestlé Waters to be the third largest non-alcoholic beverage company by volume in the U.S. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, with about 8,500 employees, Nestlé Waters is committed to responsible environmental and community stewardship and management across its operations. As a natural resource company, it sustainably manages nearly 50 spring sites, as well as nearly 14,000 acres of watershed as open space throughout the United States. The company is also committed to creating shared value and being a good neighbor in the 140 communities where it operates in the U.S.
About the Alliance for Water Stewardship
AWS is a global membership-based collaboration that unites organizations behind its mission: To lead a global network that promotes responsible use of freshwater that is socially and economically beneficial and environmentally sustainable. AWS achieves this through a global water stewardship system, centered on the International Water Stewardship Standard (the AWS Standard), that drives, recognizes, and rewards good water stewardship performance. The AWS vision is that water users and managers are responsible water stewards, who protect and enhance freshwater resources for people and nature. The AWS Standard provides a globally-applicable framework for major water users to understand their water use and impact, and to work collaboratively and transparently for sustainable management within water catchment areas.
