In 2008, our total water use decreased by over a million cubic meters compared with 2007, despite a more than 3 percent growth in production.

Water shortages occur frequently in Israel. With the cost of water also set to rise significantly, our Israeli operations needed to find ways to further reduce our water use. During 2008, water use efficiency in our Israeli facilities was 8.8 cubic meters per metric ton of production – demonstrating new capabilities. For example, Israel’s Nahariyya tissue mill focuses attention on reducing fresh water use by educating employees to spot and report leaks. Maintenance crews are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have also installed water-efficient production systems. Operators can monitor water consumption on-screen to ensure they know exactly how is being used. We also treat waste water in our Israeli facilities to a standard where local farmers can use it for irrigation.

Releases to water

During 2008, 94 percent of total pulp purchased was elemental chlorine free (ECF) and a further 5.5 percent was totally chlorine free (TCF). Only one fiber supplier in South America still operates a conventional bleach plant. This supplier is converting to ECF, and will begin shipping ECF pulp to K-C in 2009.

Our Vision 2010 corporate targets for wastewater quality are based on two measures for assessing the level of wastewater pollution and the amount of treatment required. These are biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). We track BOD and TSS data at all Consumer Tissue and K-C Professional facilities to show compliance with wastewater treatment permits.

In 2008, 92 percent of applicable facilities met their TSS and BOD targets. We will continue to work with the remaining facilities to improve their treatment systems and meet the targets.

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