Water scarcity continues to be a serious global challenge,
especially for people in developing regions. Since water is an
integral part of many of our manufacturing processes, finding ways
to optimize and reduce water usage remains a high priority.
Further reductions in water usage remain a priority. We are
making significant capital investments in a range of water
optimization projects.
Sustainability 2015 Goal: Reduce our total
manufacturing water use by 25 percent.
Reduce total fresh water use at our Consumer Tissue and
Kimberly-Clark Professional and other facilities by achieving
facility-specific water efficiency targets.
Since 2000, as part of our Vision 2005 and 2010 programs,
Kimberly-Clark has been striving for improved water efficiency in
all our tissue manufacturing sites. Our mills have worked toward a
corporate-wide benchmark of 30 cubic meters per bone dried metric
ton (m3/BDMT) of product. Each mill sets its own water-efficiency
goal and is measured by how close it comes to achieving that
goal.
Providing cleaner wastewater
Besides reducing the amount of fresh water we use, we strive to
effectively manage the quantity and quality of the wastewater we
discharge.
Kimberly-Clark manufacturing facilities use advanced
technologies, including primary and secondary treatment, to achieve
high standards of wastewater quality. These technologies make it
possible to cycle treated effluent back into our manufacturing
processes - a closed loop system that significantly reduces both
our discharges to waterways and our use of fresh water.
Enhancing our wastewater standards
Our Vision 2010 Water Quality Standards will be carried over to
Sustainability 2015. In addition to maintaining these rigorous
standards, we are adding an acute toxicity standard to ensure that
our discharges do not harm the aquatic environment. We will develop
a program to measure each mill at least twice before 2015.
