Water, water everywhere
A clean water resource is something consumers take very seriously and Fonterra is helping our farmers keep waterways clean. In New Zealand, the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord (CSA) – a voluntary agreement between Fonterra, local government and the Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment – is our cornerstone initiative in this area.
Dairy Farm Effluent Compliance
Fonterra takes effluent management very seriously and in August 2010 we rolled out a new national initiative to help tackle dairy effluent issues – Every Farm, Every Year.
We’re checking every farm’s dairy effluent system every year as part of their annual Farm Dairy Assessment. Systems at risk of non compliance are referred to a Sustainable Dairy Specialist who helps the farmer develop an action plan to fix any problems before they can potentially harm the environment or cause breeches of the effluent rules.
Critical non-compliance must be addressed as soon as practicable, preferably within 24 hours and we’ve doubled our number of Sustainable Dairying Specialists to 10 in support of the programme.
This proactive approach is already beginning to bear fruit with some farms needing only minor changes to ensure compliance and others getting the specialist assistance they need to get their effluent systems up to scratch.
We’re also improving the quality of our treated wastewater from our manufacturing plants by minimising production losses and operating our wastewater treatment to best practice standards.
Water Consumption and Recycling
In 2009, Fonterra’s New Zealand manufacturing sites utilised more than 34 million cubic meters of fresh water. The majority of water comes from rivers and ground water with additional inputs from district councils.
The quantity of water recycled within Fonterra’s New Zealand manufacturing sites during the 2009 season was estimated at 2.34 million cubic metres – around 2.5 Olympic sized swimming pools per day and represents 7 per cent of total water consumption.
Recycling reduces the volume of water required for processing and also reduces the wastewater volume.
We’re always investigating new and innovative ways we can recycle water and have produced encouraging results with processing plants improving efficiency and awareness of the need to conserve water.
On farm, Fonterra is working with DairyNZ to roll out the Smart Water Use programme across to our supplier farmers. This programme supports farmers in achieving improved water use efficiency for stock water systems and in-shed (Cleaning and milk cooling). Fonterra is actively supporting Irrigation New Zealand in lifting irrigation efficiency through extension of information and tools to irrigators.
Waste Water Management
Fonterra’s New Zealand manufacturing sites discharged just under 30 million cubic metres of water to waterways during the 2009 season, which equates to 2.0 litres of water discharged per litre of raw milk processed (excluding cooling water).
To improve the quality of our treated wastewater, Fonterra invests in research to ensure that treatment technology is best practice, meets regulatory requirements and minimises any environmental impact.
Many of Fonterra’s manufacturing sites throughout New Zealand irrigate treated wastewater onto surrounding land. This recycled wastewater contains nutrients at levels useful to promote pasture growth.
Waste Water Management Highlights:
- Our new $12 million wastewater treatment plant at the Stirling site opened in March 2010 and is already exceeding expectations, treating 3.5 million litres of process water each day. The facility is the first of its kind for the New Zealand dairy industry and is the largest dairy-based biological reactor plant in the world. The treated water resembles tap water and solid matter left over is recycled and used as fertiliser, making it a truly sustainable process
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A new water treatment plant is being constructed at Fonterra’s Kauri site to treat up to 3,000 cubic metres of factory effluent daily. All solids removed from the wastewater are made into compost and sold in bulk to contractors planting roadsides. The remaining water is spray irrigated over 200ha of pasture on Fonterra farms at Kauri and Hikurangi
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Water conservation initiatives at the New Plymouth Coolstore site have resulted in a first for Fonterra in New Zealand – a site which is self sufficient for water
- Our Tirau plant has installed an anaerobic digester which operates on the factory wastewater and provides 30 per cent of the gas requirement for the boiler. This is a great example of turning a waste stream into a valuable resource.
We are implementing water conservation initiatives and investing in research, extension programmes and capital to ensure we are making the best possible use of this critical resource. We’re also working with rural communities and non-profit organisation Conservation Volunteers on projects to enhance and protect waterways.
