At SBF GB&I, we follow a Japanese philosophy of “Mizu To Ikiru”, which translates to “living with water”. It is a recognition that not only is this precious natural resource vital to our business, but also for all living things, and we have a responsibility to protect it. Severn Rivers Trust is a perfect partner for helping us turn this commitment into action and help educate more people about the importance of water conservation.
Michelle Norman – Director of Sustainability,
Suntory Beverage & Food Europe
The new partnership is also part of our parent company - Suntory Group’s - wider Mizuiku water education programme, which to date has engaged nearly a quarter of a million people across the world. "Mizu" means water, and "iku" means education in Japanese, and reflects the importance of water to our global business.
We hope this new pilot programme with Severn Rivers Trust will pave the way for future projects that educate even more people on the importance of water in years to come. You can read more about Suntory Group’s Mizuiku programme here.
To fulfil our promise to manage natural resources sustainably, we are constantly innovating to minimise our environmental impact through the whole product lifecycle, including sustainable water management practices.
In 2020, we installed a £13 million high-speed filling line at our factory in Gloucestershire, which requires up to 40% less water to bottle each one of our drinks. In addition, 60 per cent of all water is sourced from on-site boreholes and a new water recovery unit has been installed that stops wastage by recovering, treating and reusing any excess water. Reducing not only water usage, but also sewerage, is critical to protecting the health of local water courses, many of which have been damaged in recent months by floods and sewage discharges.