Fresh milk from dairy cows contains around 88% water and Nestlé is using this to recycle through its production system to eliminate the need for water and to obviate any water wastage.

Nestlé South Africa is the Swiss multinational’s latest regional business to transform its dairy factory into a ‘zero water’ manufacturing site, which was inaugurated recently by the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Gugile Nkwinti.

Over the past six years, the company has installed new water recovery, treatment and recycling technology at its Mossel Bay dairy factory, which is located in one of the Western Cape’s most water stressed regions. This newly installed infrastructure will enable the factory to re-use and recycle water from its dairy operations.

The Nestlé Mossel Bay factory produces milk products such as Nespray, Nido, Klim, Condensed and Culinary Milks, respectively.

The water evaporated from milk is captured and treated and used to various applications within the facility eliminating the need for municipal water intake for these processes.

Nestlé South Africa’s chairman and managing director, Remy Ejél Nestlé believes every person has the right to water and sanitation and therefore remains committed to supporting the ambition of the United Nations to universal access to safe water and sanitation.

“Project ZerEau is a perfect example of our commitment to enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future of individuals, communities and the planet. This project will have a positive impact on the treatment, recycling, conservation and water use efficiencies in our Mossel Bay factory. It will also link our business directly with local dairy farmers, suppliers, local government and the broader Mossel Bay community,” he says.
 
Between 2008 and 2010, the Mossel Bay Municipality and surrounding areas experienced one of its worst droughts in recorded history. The region was subsequently declared a disaster area and municipal water-use restrictions had to be put in place. In supporting the town’s’efforts to manage this crisis and ensure efficient water usage, Nestlé introduced a water saving initiative at our Mossel Bay factory.

Through this initiative, Nestlé will be able to reduce the factory’s water consumption by more than 50% during the first year of implementation, by simply re-using the water recovered from the milk evaporation process.