World Water Day at the Freixenet Group

Within the framework of our commitment to the environment and sustainability, one of the environmental aspects that most concerns us at the Freixenet Group is the reduction of water consumption, a fact that we highlight today, March 22, on the occasion of World Water Day. We are immersed in a scenario of unprecedented water scarcity and drought and we must promote water saving policies and inspire the adoption of measures to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

According to data from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the peninsular hydraulic reserve stands at 40.5% of its capacity, a value 54.7% lower than last year and 60% lower than the average of the last 10 years. The national average value of accumulated rainfall at the beginning of the 2021/2022 hydrological year was 41.8% lower than the normal value. In Catalonia, the 2021-2022 meteorological winter is the second driest in the last 50 years, only behind 2011-2012.

Comparing the usage of water in 2020 to that prior to the implementation of the ISO14001 (1999) system, The Freixenet Group has managed to reduce its water usage by 30% for every bottle produced. In the particular case of new and innovative production lines we have reduced the usage of process water by 77%. This reduction has been achieved using the methodology the company always uses: measure, prioritise, reduce or optimise and invest.

Here are some concrete examples of how we have been able to reduce water usage:

  • Study of water usage by sections and machines using flow counters to optimise priorities. For example, we have reduced water usage by optimising winery cleaning.
  • Recuperation and re-use of water.
  • Installation of photo-electric cells which detect the passing of bottles and which stop the flow of water when no bottles are detected
  • Refurbishing the refrigeration equipment on some of our production lines
  • Reducing lubricant and water usage by changing from wet to dry lubrication
  • Sensitivity of our collaborators

Through these and many other actions we continue to strive to continue to be more respectful of the environment every day.