Benchmarking Water Use in the UK Food and Drink Sector: Case Study of Three Water-Intensive Dairy Products

Abstract

There is an established body of research on water use by the domestic and agricultural sectors, but very little peer-reviewed literature have been published on industrial water use. This has been attributed to the commercially competitive and complex nature of the industrial sector, and the attendant difficulties in collecting requisite data for any analysis (Reynaud, 2003). Consequent upon this, there is a growing concern over the sustainability of water-related industrial practices and processes. To this end, focusing on key waterintensive industrial subsectors, the food and drink sector which according to DEFRA (2007) and the Environment Agency 2013 has the highest rate of water use in the industrial sector, was chosen for this performance assessment, the aim being to clearly understand how various food and drink firms use water, relative to other Bcomparable^firms, and against industry standards or benchmarks. For the analyses, data on water use were collected from 53 dairy companies, for a 5-year (minimum) period, and covering three water-intensive dairy products-liquid milk, butter and cheese. Thus, data were collected from 27 liquid milk-producing companies, 13 butter-and 13 cheese-processing companies. Based on the findings, of the 53 benchmarked companies, 17 companies' water use performance were ranked Bexcellent^; 26 companies, Baverage^; while the remaining 10 companies' performance were Bpoor^. These results emphasise the need for creation of more comprehensive water management schemes and conservation clubs within the food and drink sector. From this study, benchmarking, a performance assessment and improvement process, has been established as a veritable strategy for driving behavioural change in water use by industry, and enhancing the sustainability credential of the UK industrial sector, in terms of fresh water use.

Water use efficiency of Irish dairy processing

“…At the whole-site level, our results were consistent with the only other Irish study (Geraghty, 2011) and with international studies (Vourch et al, 2008;Boguniewicz-Zablocka et al, 2019;Mahatha et al, 2019). The reported separation and pasteurization water use was greater than that reported by Depping et al (2017), but butter water use was at the lower end compared with Dvarioniene et al (2012) and Ajiero and Campbell (2018). The evaporation and spray drying water use was comparable with Depping et al (2017).…”

Scotland's industrial water use: Understanding recent changes and examining the future

“…Furthermore, the combined growth in global demand for Scottish spirits (namely whisky and gin) have resulted in continued growth in this sector over the past decade. This pattern of rising water consumption in the Scottish food and drink industry is consistent with findings from Ajiero and Campbell (2018), who identify food and drink as being the largest end-user of water across industrial sectors, followed closely by chemical manufacturing. Their findings also elucidate the rising water intensity within the Scottish refined petroleum, These technologies have significantly lower water intensity than fossil technologies (e.g.…”

Opportunities and Challenges for Industrial Water Treatment and Reuse

“…A comparative benchmarking via SWC can play a key role in reducing process water use through identifying areas for improvement and establishing best practices. 33 A breakdown of water use and SWC within select food and beverage facilities is provided in Figure 2a for comparison. Figure 2b illustrates the flow of water through a generalized fruits and vegetables processing facility.…”

“…In the food and beverage industry, process water is typically used for purposes such as washing, rinsing, sanitation, temperature control, and as an ingredient in products. The relative proportions of water being used for each process varies across the industry and may depend on a number of factors, including the product(s) being manufactured, , the manufacturing technologies being used, the size of a facility, and its location. ,, A useful metric for comparing water use efficiencies across various facilities and/or industries is specific water consumption (SWC), or the amount of water used per unit product. Note that, although SWC includes the term consumption , which is often taken to mean the amount of water intake minus the amount discharged, it actually describes the water use of a given process, that is, gross water intake.…”

“…Note that, although SWC includes the term consumption , which is often taken to mean the amount of water intake minus the amount discharged, it actually describes the water use of a given process, that is, gross water intake. A comparative benchmarking via SWC can play a key role in reducing process water use through identifying areas for improvement and establishing best practices . A breakdown of water use and SWC within select food and beverage facilities is provided in Figure a for comparison.…”