Ecolab: Helping Customers Use Water with Care

A success story from our 2011 Sustainability Report
Oct 16, 2012 9:00 AM ET

Water is an essential part of many of our customers’ processes, and using less of it contributes to their success while also preserving a precious resource for other uses. Take PepsiCo. The company is guided by Performance with Purpose, which they define as delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and the planet. To that end, this global leader in convenient snacks, foods and beverages has several aggressive environmental sustainability goals including one to improve operational water use efficiency by 20 percent per unit of production by 2015. To meet that goal and others — including reducing energy use — Ecolab provides a range of innovative solutions.

Our DryExx conveyor management system replaces water with dry lubricants in bottling plants, typically saving up to 1.8 million liters of water per line per year. The Advantis® clean-in-place (CIP) program removes two water-intensive steps from the process, reducing CIP water use by up to 45 percent.

Our 3D TRASAR technology improves operations in multiple industrial systems. Improvements to the cooling system at one plant reduced fresh water use by 90 million liters a year. Using 3D TRASAR for membranes in another plant’s pretreatment system improved water quality, saving 7.5 million liters of water annually.

In addition to water savings, our programs and services are improving cleanliness while reducing waste, energy, greenhouse gases and PepsiCo’s total operating costs.

Details of the positive impact Ecolab makes through our customers and  in our own operations can be found in our 2011 Sustainability Report.